"The Asian Human Rights Commission shares the worldwide concern about the communal violence in Arakan (Rakhine) State in Burma over the last fortnight, which has received widespread reportage in the international media, and joins in calls for its earliest cessation, and for the provision of relief to persons affected by the events that have unfolded there. It has today issued an open letter to the governments of Burma and Bangladesh, asking that they cooperate to enable the movement of persons to places of safety, rather than the closing of the two countries? shared border, and for full, protected access of international agencies to assess the situation and provide assistance (AHRC-OLT-013-2012). These steps are obviously necessary to deal with conditions in the short term. In the longer term, deeper understanding of what has provoked the violence, and what can be done to prevent repeat occurrences, is equally necessary. Unfortunately, to date, limited evidence exists of willingness on the part of many important domestic and international actors to reflect critically on the events and ask questions openly about what has happened and why. The seeming reluctance on the part not only of people in official positions but also in political parties, international agencies and the media to ask questions about the causes of the violence and the reasons for its continuance is accompanied by a lack of reflection on events of the recent past, some of which may help to inform us of what is going on in the present..."