EU condemns persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar

The European Parliament (EP) Friday expressed alarm at the "continuing ethnic violence in western Myanmar /Burma" and fears that the intercommunal clashes may put at risk Burma's transition to democracy. The EP in a statement issued here today, said the House adopted a a resolution pointing to the systematic and severe discrimination against the Rohingya and call on the Burmese government to grant citizens' rights to them and to other stateless minorities. "The Rohingya minority cannot be left out of the newly developing openness for a multicultural Burma/Myanmar," it said. The resolution called on all parties to exercise restraint and on the government to allow UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs, as well as journalists and diplomats, unhindered humanitarian access to all areas of Rakhine State.