<Statement>

The Sixth Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day: Myanmar military junta, responsible for the Rohingya genocide, must step down immediately! The international community must ensure the Rohingya refugees' safe and dignified return and citizenship rights.

It's August 25th again. Six years ago today, the Myanmar government unleashed a relentless genocide against the Rohingya people it has long been persecuting and repressing. The memory of this horrific genocide, in which tens of thousands were slaughtered, while hundreds of thousands fled their homes, is still vivid. Still, the lives of the Rohingya are becoming more devastating than ever.

While the international community, including the UN, has held the Myanmar military accountable for sexual violence, arson, massacres, and other crimes against humanity amid the genocide, the military junta has even staged a coup. The Myanmar military’s coup, which occurred in the wake of a lack of accountability for the Rohingya genocide, has made it even more difficult to hold those responsible accountable and seek the truth.

While it is good to see Myanmar citizens’ reflecting on the Rohingya genocide after witnessing the Myanmar military's brutal war crimes against humanity for more than two and a half years since the coup, the international community's inaction has made the situation even more difficult for the Rohingya. For example, although hundreds of Rohingya people in Rakhine State were reportedly killed by Cyclone Mocha in May this year, no effective relief measures were taken for them. With the collapse of the state system due to the military coup in Myanmar, the Rohingya in Myanmar are in effect being pushed from a marginal situation to an even more extreme marginal situation. In addition, conditions in the camps are deteriorating as the international community’s attention and support for the refugee camps in Bangladesh, which were similarly affected by Cyclone Mocha, dwindles.

It is obvious that a pilot repatriation project for Rohingya to return to Myanmar, initiated by the current Myanmar military junta, lacks any credibility as the military junta itself has not been recognized as a legitimate government by the international community since the coup. The fundamental prerequisite for the safe and dignified return of the Rohingya is for the Myanmar military to immediately step down from power and take responsibility for the Rohingya genocide. The victims cannot return to a place where the killers request them to. The international community must do all it can to ensure that Rohingya live safely with dignity, at least in the refugee camps in Bangladesh.

We also call on the South Korean government. Rather than inviting Myanmar's ambassador to South Korea to ride in a South Korean military tank while trying to sell arms, under the excuse that it’s customary to invite ASEAN diplomatic missions, South Korea should expand its support for Rohingya refugees. We note in particular that since the Rohingya genocide, when the issue of Korean companies working with the Myanmar military was raised, the South Korean government has not taken any action against these companies. In both Moon Jae-in's New Southern Policy and Yoon Seok-yeol's "Value Alliance," we do not see values ahead of the profits of Korean companies. This is why South Korean society, including the government, must reflect on what it means to fulfill its responsibilities in the international community in light of the Rohingya refugees.

We remember the Rohingya who are still struggling to get through the day, and we will continue to stand in solidarity with the Rohingya people until they are safely returned to Myanmar and respected as part of Myanmar's democracy.

August 25, 2023

Korean Civil Society in Solidarity with Rohingya

Asian Dignity Initiative

BDS KOREA

Changjak 21 writers

Committee of Justice, Peace and Ecology, Korean Catholic Religious Men

Committee to Support Imprisoned Workers

Dasan Human Rights Center

Friends of Asia

Human rights education center ‘Deul’

Incorporated Organization Shilcheon Bulgyo

Jesuit Research Center for Advocacy and Solidarity

Jesus Peace Human Rights Institute WHAT

KOCO(Korean Solidarity for Overseas Community Organization in Asia

Korean House for International Solidarity

LIFE & SAFETY NETWORK

MINBYUN - Lawyers for a Democratic Society International Solidarity Committee

New Bodhisattva Network

PEACE MOMO

People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy(PSPD)

Sarangbang Group for Human Rights