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Mizzima: The "forgotten issues" at



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<P align=justify>The "forgotten issues" at the WCAR</P></B></FONT>
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<P align=justify>Mizzima News (<A href="http://www.mizzima.com/";>www.mizzima.com</A>)</P>
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<P align=justify>Durban, South Africa, Sept. 5: </I></FONT>While the attention of the government delegates, media and even of the far away observers are being directed only to so-called contentious issues surrounding Palestine-Israel and reparation/compensation, it seems that some issues related to the conference are being forgotten, at least for the moment in the on-going World Conference Against Racism in Durban. A number of issues such as the Chinese ethnic minority in Indonesia, indigenous people of West Papua, struggle of Tibetan people for self-determination, the refugees in Bhutan, struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma and religious intolerance in Pakistan are just some of the issues which are not getting enough attention in this world conference which supposed to deal with all the related issues on racism and discrimination.</P>
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<P align=justify>With the two days only left to end the conference, delegates from Indonesia, West Papua, Tibet, Burma, Bhutan, Pakistan and some other countries joined together and held a road-side press briefing this morning near the Durban Exhibition Center to get their issues highlighted in the conference.</P>
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<P align=justify>"As we cannot hold the press conference inside the building, we are doing it here outside", the organizer told a few media persons who actually turned up for the event. "We just hope that we will not be forgotten in this conference".</P>
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<P align=justify>"People have been killed in the hands of Indonesia military. In Malacca, since January 1999, violence has been resulted in at least 500 deaths," said Asmin Fransiska from Indonesia. She also spoke about the 65 massacres the Suharto regime and military had committed but the people responsible for this "gross violence against humanity" has not been prosecuted so far. </P>
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<P align=justify>"Right to self-determination of the West Papua people have never been recognised. West Papua has been considered as 26<SUP>th</SUP> province of Indonesia since 1969. But we never wanted to be a part of Indonesia. We have been unwillingly incorporated into Indonesia", claimed Leonie Tanggahma from West Papua. "In 1969, there was a so-called referendum where the Indonesians said that the West Papuans had voted for integration with Indonesia. But that is not true. It was only 1,025 people who were handpicked by the Indonesia army and Indonesian authority voted. And thirty years of Suharto regime did not do anything good".</P>
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<P align=justify>In Burma, the ruling military dominates every aspect of life and the non-members of the military are discriminated in the society. The ethnic minority nationalities face multiple discrimination under the military regime, said Naw Chai Mei Hua, a Karen ethnic woman from Women?s League of Burma. "Again we face more discrimination in neighbouring countries when we became refugees because we are non-nationals," said Naw Chai Mei Hua who herself is a refugee living in a camp in Thai-Burma border. "More than a million people are forced to work in neighbouring Thailand to survive".</P>
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<P align=justify>"Tibetans are being discriminated in every field of the society in Tibet and one of the main concerns is the population transfer which is impacting on housing of the local population where the Tibetans have become secondary citizens in their own country. In the cities of Tibet, Tibetans have become minority," said Youdon Aukatsang from the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy based in India. "Tibetans do not have a right to learn their own culture, history and tradition. The development is only in the urban areas".</P>
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<P align=justify>There are also several issues, which have not received enough attention yet in the conference. One of them is the HIV-related stigma and discrimination. </P>
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<P align=justify>"HIV-related stigma and discrimination remain an immense barrier to effectively fighting the most devastating epidemic humanity has ever known," said Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS in a press briefing. "If HIV-related stigma and discrimination are not tackled, AIDS will blight the 21<SUP>st</SUP> century just as racism affected the 20<SUP>th</SUP> century," he added.</P>
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<P align=justify>He also said that Burma is one of the most effected countries by HIV in Asia together with Cambodia and Thailand. "But where as in Thailand, and recently also in Cambodia, we are seeing a decline of number in new infection and a quite considerable response led by the government that is much less the case in Myanmar. The epidemic is effecting to large extent people who are injecting drug. But there is also sexual transmission. And we are concerned that, in deed, not enough has been done," Dr. Piot said.</P></DIV></div><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href='http://go.msn.com/bql/hmtag_itl_EN.asp'>http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></html>