We can’t rest in our support for the Rohingya Muslims
Thursday October 22 2020, 12.01am, The Times
Today the UK government joins forces with the US, EU and UN Refugee Agency to hold a donor conference for the Rohingya refugees. As a new peer and a proud Muslim, I am particularly concerned about the plight of the Rohingya Muslims. Since 2016, around one million Rohingyas have been displaced, mostly women and children.
While the issue is a stain on the world’s conscience, the UK government has taken a lead on the issue of Rohingya Muslims. The prime minister has been at the forefront of this, taking a particular interest and strong stand in this area. As foreign secretary, Boris Johnson visited refugee camps on the Bangladesh border in 2018 and spoke out about the “horrendous living conditions” there, taking an exceptional moral stand amongst G7 nations.
The UK has maintained its public support for the Rohingya, for example, blacklisting two high-ranking Myanmar generals associated with human rights abuses, under the new “Magnitsky” sanctions regime. It has also financed the building of isolation and treatment centres at the Cox’s Bazar refugee camp.
I am proud of what the UK government is doing to support the Rohingya. This is no time to take our foot off the gas. Lord Palmerston, the nineteenth century statesman, famously said that the “the furtherance of British interests should be the only object” of our foreign policy. But I do think it’s in our interests to support and champion the Rohingya. In particular, there are three reasons why it’s important for the UK to maintain its robust support in this area.
First, one of the pillars of global Britain is humanitarian. Despite what some say, this can be strengthened by the newly merged Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Second, the UK has deep historic ties to the region. British rule in Burma lasted from 1824 to 1948. The UK, therefore, has a particular interest in helping the Rohingya, and encouraging Myanmar on the long road to a fully-fledged democracy.
Third and finally, the UK government is concerned about the persecution of minorities, wherever they are and whatever their religion.
It has done a lot of work on the persecution of Christians. An independent review by the Bishop of Truro, published last summer, showed that globally one in three people suffer from religious persecution, and Christians are the most oppressed group. The government, however, is faith-blind when it comes to discrimination. It has shown through its support for the Rohingya that it is willing and able to stand up for the rights of Muslims who are facing oppression.
We should also remember that in the UK we are fortunate to enjoy religious freedom. Indeed when I took my oath in the House of Lords last month, I swore it on the Koran. As a Muslim entering public life, I appreciated this as a sign of the UK’s proud record in guaranteeing religious freedom.
As the UK charts a new course post-Brexit, it should redouble its humanitarian support for the Rohingyas, who have been described by the UN “as the most persecuted minority in the world.” There are strong reasons for this from our commitment to helping the world’s poorest to our support for religious minorities, whatever their faith. I hope that the rest of the world can look towards the UK for the power of our example as much as the example of our power.
Lord Sarfraz is a Conservative peer and businessman
