Around 100 ethnic people, including Arakan nationalists, staged a protest in front of the United Nations (UN) headquarters on 30 April calling for a halt to fighting in Arakan State.
Protest leader Khaing Ba Khin said that they were also protesting against the use of local residents as porters and guides in the Arakan State conflicts.
Anti-war protesters in front of the UN HQ in New York
He said: “We are protesting in front of the UN Headquarters because the Burma Army has been forcing and pressurising innocent civilians to work [for them] in ethnic areas where offensives have been launched. This breaches the Geneva Convention.”
One of the protesters, U Saw Lwin said: “In her New Year’s greeting State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she would give priority to national reconciliation. President U Htin Kyaw has also said that he will prioritise national reconciliation, but the offensives against ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) seem to suggest that the military and the government are separate.”
The protest ran from 1 to 3pm during which time the protestors shouted anti-war and pro-peace slogans.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
