Persecution and plight of Rohingya underscored by humanitarian musician

Peter Evans

Carol Forsloff ---For generations the news of the world was transmitted through pictures, images, chants and music.  Troubadours in the court of kings in the settled world would be called in not simply to entertain but to relay information that was often of a recent event or something of a historical nature.  Musicians in the modern world often take responsibility themselves to alert the world of unfair practices, cruelty, violations of human rights in many places, as Peter Evans is doing with his music that reflects the concerns of a seriously oppressed people in Asia.

As a journalist, and fellow musician, I know Peter Evans' music.  Much of it is oriented towards humanitarian concerns, as an email message from him recently outlined the plight of the Rohingya, group of people who have lived in Burma for many years but is now being targeted for persecution, banishment or death.

[caption id="attachment_19024" align="alignright" width="288"] Peter Evans, humanitarian musician[/caption]

One of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh, giving asylum to many refugees over the years  but that now is refusing to offer refuge any more.  Bangladesh has been hosting over 200,000 Rohingya refugees from Burma in the eastern region.  This adds to numbers of people seeking help from other countries, including large numbers of Urdu-speaking minority known as Biharis or Stranded Pakistanis, according to Refugees International.

Recently many American and international news media have focused attention on the plight of these most persecuted individuals, ones described by Refugees International as “ one of the most persecuted and at the same time one of the largest stateless groups in the world.”  They have been persecuted for decades, living in the poorest areas and moving from one area to another, often without food or shelter.  The military often target them as well, according to human rights groups.

The Rohingya are the Muslim minority of the Bengali people, related to the same groups living in Bangladesh’s Chittagong District.  According to IRIN Asia,  UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs  they are approximately 90% of the one million people who live in Rakhine State in Myanmar.   Although northern Rakhine State is mostly Muslim, Buddhists are the majority of the state’s three million people.  In 2012 there were serious clashes between the Rohingyas and the Buddhists.

In spite of the fact the Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations, they are considered stateless people.  In 1982 the  Burmese Citizenship law,  observed them to be unwelcome and not citizens, specifically accused as being a source of Burma’s instability.

Every day the Rohingya face the horrors of being unwelcome in a country, where the President  Thein Sein  has said the Rohinga’s should be placed in the refugee camps sponsored by the United Nations until some country is willing to take them in.  The problem is that no other nation wants them in.  So they live in the most abject conditions, facing death and persecution on a daily basis.

Peter Evans declares his concern, and that of others, regarding the unjust treatment of the Rohingya and does it in an original, poignant song which can be found here on Fandalism.    Like musicians have done for many centuries, Evans uses his talent for the advocacy and concern of others.    It is worth a listen, for the message and the miracle of music, that can travel far, and perhaps by its very nature reach the ears and hearts of those who can offer help.