Email - Lost at Sea: fleeing the threat of genocide - United to End Genocide
Fleeing the threats of genocide, thousands of Rohingya are being cast back out to sea. Demand their rescue and protection.
Fleeing the threats of genocide, thousands of Rohingya are being cast back out to sea. Demand their rescue and protection.
Dear Supporter,
They are fleeing the threat of genocide — and they are being cast back into the sea. Without immediate action, they are going to die.
At least 4,000 and perhaps more than 10,000 ethnic minority Rohingya are floating in the Andaman Sea trapped in crowded wooden boats. With food and clean water running low, their lives are in grave danger.
Instead of heeding their cries for help, Burma’s neighbors are pushing these rickety boats back to sea. The United States is saying and doing nothing.
The result? As I was quoted by Nick Kristof in the
New York Timestoday, "the Andaman Sea is about to become a floating mass grave, and it’s because of the failure of governments, including our own, to do what is necessary."
There is a moral imperative to rescue those at sea.Join me in asking the United States to help save the lives of thousands of desperate people who are about to lose their lives in the Andaman Sea.
Just weeks ago, I witnessed the devastation with my own eyes.I met Bibi Khadija*, her husband and their two small children who fled Burma fearful for their lives on a boat with 200 other Rohingya. Bibi and her family were at sea for 33 days. Five people died from starvation. Bibi and her family were the lucky ones that survived.
Members of Parliaments from Southeast Asia that I just met with told me that the U.S. is the single greatest source of influence on the government of Burma and governments who are turning desperate Rohingya asylum seekers back out to sea.
But, the Obama administration continues to remain silent.It has lifted pressure on the government of Burma even as the government increased its persecution and attacks on the Rohingya.
Burma has repeatedly denied the Rohingya citizenship, restricted their ability to work, attend school, have access to health care, get married or even have children. Worse, the government of Burma has been complicit in violent attacks against the Rohingya.
Now the Obama administration has an immediate opportunity to save thousands of lives and deliver a clear message to the government of Burma — Protect the Rohingya.
Burma should be warned that its persecution of the Rohingya and their failure to protect them will lead to the imposition of sanctions by listing them as a worst offender in the upcoming State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons report.
Unless the policies of hate end in Burma, the crisis will only escalate.We must act now to save those stranded at sea and take the steps needed to protect the Rohingya at home.
Sincerely,
President, United to End Genocide
P.S.
Please help us respond immediately to this crisis by making a special donation to our Burma Emergency fund.Every gift counts in our work to help Rohingya families survive.
ABOUT UNITED TO END GENOCIDEWe are United to End Genocide, the largest activist organization in America dedicated to preventing and ending genocide and mass atrocities worldwide. We are faith leaders, students, artists, investors and genocide survivors, and all those who believe we must fulfill the promise the world made following the Holocaust — "Never Again!"