Santiago, Marielle D.

Help for Rohingya People... Obligation or Charity??!!

The Rohingyas - a distinct Muslim ethnic group who are effectively
stateless - have been fleeing Myanmar for decades. While the
Rohingyas say they are descendants of Arab traders who have been in
the region for generations, Myanmar's governments say they are not a
genuine ethnic group but are actually Bengali migrants. Successive
Myanmar governments have been introducing policies to repress the
Rohingya since the 1970s, according to Burmese Rohingya
Organization UK.They are denied basic services and their movements
are severely restricted. In June and October 2012 there were large
scale attacks on Rohingyas in Rakhine State following the gang rape of
a Buddhist woman.In addition, the government in March revoked
temporary registration certificates issued to hundreds of thousands of
Rohingyas, meaning they can no longer vote. In the past three years,
more than 120,000 Rohingyas have boarded ships to flee abroad,
according to the UN refugee agency. It says 25,000 migrants left
Myanmar and Bangladesh in the first quarter of this year, about double
the number over the same period last year.
OPINION

Although it's neighboring countries like Thailand, Malaysia and

Indonesia has denied The rohingyas to their country, The Philippines
must stand its ground on opening it's doors to migrants not just to
prove the hospitality and kindness that Filipinos are known for but most
importantly we have to uphold our obligation as a member of the
United Nation and the ASEAN. We need to honor the International Law
which covers "the obligation of rescue at sea" which all of its member
consented to however a number of now refuses to uphold to. We shall
continue to do our share in protecting and saving lives and not refuse
those people in need for we need to honor our commitment, our
obligation as a signatory of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status
of Refugees. The Philippines has a long history of hosting refugees
from other Asian countries, and even as far as Europe. Jewish refugees
fleeing from the Holocaust in Europe, thousands of Chinese refugees
also settled in the Philippine, in the 1970s, as Vietnam was engaged in
a civil war, the Philippines also provided sanctuary to Vietnamese "boat
people". We have helped a number of migrants in the past, all the
more reason to lend a hand to the helpless now. With such action,we
can tell the world that we may not be a rich country but, we do not let
poverty destroy our humanity.