WASHINGTON
President Barack Obama warned Myanmar to end discrimination against Rohingya Muslims during a White House meeting with young Asian leaders.
"We were talking earlier about what’s required for Myanmar to succeed. I think one of the most important things is to put an end to discrimination against people because of what they look like or what their faith is. And the Rohingya have been discriminated against significantly, and that’s part of the reason they’re fleeing," Obama said.
Obama's comments were in response to a question by a Thai teen who paid a visit to American governmental and civil society institutions.
The American president said if he were Rohingya, he would like to live where he was born.
"But I’d want to make sure that my government was protecting me, and that people were treating me fairly," he said. "And that’s why it’s so important I think, as part of the democratic transition, to take very seriously this issue of how the Rohingya are treated."
Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution and violence in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state make up the majority of the thousands left stranded at sea in recent weeks, but the government has denied responsibility.
Touching upon the migration influx in southeast Asia, and particularly the conditions of the Rohingya, Obama said that those who are being subject to human trafficking are still in a very perilous situation in the open sea.
He also commended Indonesia and Malaysia for their willingness to take in thousands of the displaced people.
Rohingya have lived under apartheid-like conditions for years and are denied basic rights, including freedom of movement and access to education.
