The President of the Rohingya Association of Thailand, Siyeed Alam, stated that the Yakai state in which the Rohingya live is rich in precious minerals, which may be one of the main reasons why their villages have been attacked for decades. Alem pointed out that the Rohingya minority were once Burmese citizens and owned the legal papers submitted by the former leader of Myanmar, but all their rights were taken away when the military government appeared. The head of the Rohingya Association in Thailand appealed to the Myanmar government to allow them to return to their country and settle there.
Siyeed Alam – President of Rohingya Association of Thailand said
“This one by Burma government. When? 1982. Rohingyas crossed the borderline to Bangladesh. Burma government-certified them as citizens and allowed them to go back.”
“The government even granted us Burmese ID cards – we’re their citizen. Afterward, look how they changed it. In 1914, we weren’t Burma citizens anymore.”
“It’s not that we don’t have a nationality. We were once legally Burma citizens. But when the military government rose, they took everything from us one by one. In the end, they turned us to Bangladeshi, Indian, and Pakistani.”
“This is the state of Rohingya. We live here.”
“Over 1 million Rohingyas living in Myanmar now. More than 3 million are in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Australia, US. We all want to go home. We want to develop our hometown. Love it so much. I also miss my hometown every day. I keep contacting them to see how things are going on. But whatever I heard from our people in Yakai state, it’s tragic. It keeps getting worse. They can’t leave home, visit or go to school or mosque. We can just call it the world’s biggest jail.”
“There’re minerals and gold in the sand, something used for weapons’ production. Rohingya don’t know that it gets around the seashore between India and Bangaladesh – at Myanmar’s border – there is abundant gold and many other things in the sea. China already built theirs. India and Russia want them too. Nowadays, Myanmar sends natural gas directly to China by pipeline and sells it, then uses the money to develop our country. We appreciate that. The government only has to tell us what they want. We’re just asking for peace and nationality. Please don’t hurt us. Don’t kill us. Just like that and they can take whatever they want. It’s not our resources. It belongs to the country, to Myanmar.”
“This person is Burmese, not Muslim. His father was an authority in Burma. He, as the son, insists that Rohingya truly exists in Myanmar. He still fights for Rohingya until now.”
“We’re pleading Myanmar government to let Rohingya get back home. Grant us papers. We have lived with difficulties for 76 years, please don’t hurt us anymore. They always hurt us – rape, bomb villages, or kill with no mercy. We’re begging you to stop. Enough let Rohingya go home. We all want to go home.”
In an interview with A24 a Rohingya man said that Burmese soldiers burn that village.
Source- A24 News