More than 60 human rights organizations call for a national reconciliation and demand a safe return for the refugees

One year after the outbreak of violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma, more than 60 human rights organizations from five continents urge the Burmese government to show more commitment for a reconciliation between the warring groups and for a safe return for all the refugees. The Citizenship Act of 1982 should be changed so that nobody is excluded because of ethnic origin. "In addition, the humanitarian aid workers must finally be granted access to all the refugees – and they should not be hindered in their work," stated the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), one of the signers of the petition. More than 140,000 Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Rakhine were forced to flee since the outbreak of violence between the population groups in July of 2012 in the state of Arakan.

To normalize the relations between the International Community and Burma, an effective protection of the minority groups and their citizenship rights would be necessary, said the human rights organizations. Burma must be urged to bring to justice all those who are responsible for the violence. Any detained people must either be indicted or immediately be released and receive compensations.

In addition, the human rights organizations are calling on Burma to allow the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to open a subsidiary office in the south-east Asian country. Just last week, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, demanded an end to the discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities in Burma.

Apart from the STP, the petition signatories include Human Rights Watch, the Minority Rights Group, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Refugees International, the Jesuit Refugee Service, the Equal Rights Trust, the European Rohingya Council and Physicians for Human Rights.