Two Requests for Help

I had heard of some of things coming up as news items on the BBC.  And I did not trust that all was well when both President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton encouraged U.S. based companies to start investing in Burma, or Mienmar.But with the President's upcoming visit, calls for help are coming in fast.  Please see below.

Tell Obama to put Burma’s urgent human rights concerns above economic interests

President Obama is going to Burma – in less than one week!  He will be the first

US President to visit Burma EVER.

Please join us in demanding Obama put Burma’s urgent human rights concerns above economic interests and limited political reforms.

President Obama would love to paint a positive picture of Burma for his visit, a

success of his principled engagement policy; some political prisoners have been released,

Aung San Suu Kyi is now a member of Parliament. But very serious human rights concerns

remain.

Hundreds of political prisoners still remain behind bars, the Burmese Army's war against the Kachin rages on, inter-communal violence in Arakan state has turned into the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims minority, and denial of humanitarian access in many areas

 are just some of the extremely disconcerting human rights concerns people are currently

facing.

It is time President Obama take action on behalf of the most persecuted people of Burma.

 Demand President Obama call on President Thein Sein to accept international peacekeepers

and monitors in Arakan State, demand an end to the war against the Kachin and allow

humanitarian access to all populations in need.

Now is not the time for celebration, Burma is not a democracy yet. The Kachin, the

Rohingya and all Burma’s ethnic minorities have almost been all but forgotten by

the international community this year – let’s show them we stand with them.

In solidarity,

Jennifer Quigley

empowered by Salsa

Change.org

My people, the Rohingya of western Burma, are being ethnically cleansed. President Obama is traveling to Burma next week. Join me in asking him to take a stand against this ethnic cleansing.

Sign My Petition

Teresa -

My name is Aisha Shansudin, and I am writing to you on behalf of my people, the Rohingya

of Burma.

My people are being subjected to ethnic cleansing and forced into concentration camps

by mobs backed by the Burmese government

 -- and when President Obama goes to Burma in a few days, he might not even acknowledge

that this is happening.

The Rohingya are a Muslim people in Western Burma, and

they are being put in concentration camps, starved, and even killed in order to force

them to leave the country.

This is why the UN says the Rohingya people are one of the most persecuted minorities

in the world.

In just a few days, President Obama will become the first US president

ever

 to visit Burma. This is an historic event for the Burmese people, and

a few words from President Obama could truly end government support for the ethnic

cleansing of the Rohingya.

That's why I started a petition on Change.org asking President Obama to take action to help the Rohingya people when he visits Burma next week. Click here to add your name.

I am lucky that my parents got me out of Burma. I now live in Chicago with my husband,

our two sons, and we have another baby on the way.

It breaks my heart to think that if I were back in Burma, my children and I could

be in concentration camps or even dead, just because we are Rohingya.

So far, 100,000 Rohingya people have been forced out of Burma. Burmese President

Thein Sein has even asked for help from other countries to expel the Rohingya from

Burma, and yet President Obama has not spoken out to say that this is wrong.

There is so much President Obama can do -- he could chastise President Thein Sein,

reinstate US sanctions on Burma, or even request UN peacekeepers.

But as long as President Obama stays silent, my people will continue to suffer.

I believe that President Obama is a good man who will want to help my people. I know

that if enough people sign my petition, President Obama will see that this is important

not just to the Rohingya, but to all Americans who believe that ethnic cleansing

should never be allowed on our watch.

Click here to sign my petition calling on President Obama to take action to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people on his trip to Burma next week.

Thank you,

Aisha Shansudin

Chicago, IL   |

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