KALADAN NEWS

 

Dated: August 13, 2004

 

Rohingya Youths Observed International Youth Day

 

Chittagong, August 13: Rohingya youths observed the 5th International Youth Day through a discussion meeting at Chittagong, Bangladesh yesterday.

 

The meeting was organized by the Rohingya Youth Development Forum (RYDF) to strengthen the commitment of young people to increase opportunities for their participation in the society activities, said Jamil, a participant of the meeting.

 

The meeting was started at 3:30 pm and ended at 7:00 pm, while about 30 youths from different areas participated in the discussion meeting and exchanged their feelings and views on the problems of Rohingya youths and other ethnic nationalities of Burma. They mainly discussed the issues of Arakan and its peoples and the current political situation Burma, he further said.

 

This International Youth Day has been celebrating since the year 2000 on 12th August per annum, remarking the youths across the world “empowering tomorrow’s global citizens today”.

 

This day serves to promote youth participation and to address issues concerning them. Empowered young people in all countries are both a major human resource for development and key agents for social change, economic development and technological innovation. 

 

The theme of the fifth International Youth Day is "Youth in an Intergenerational Society". Today's society is the youngest ever; almost fifty percent of the world's population is aged 25 years or under. Yet societies are also ageing.

 

By choosing the theme "youth in an intergenerational society", the United Nations wants to stress the importance of solidarity between generations at all levels - in families, communities and nations. In the future, the interdependence of younger and older people will increase. Youth development is a prerequisite to meeting the growing care demands of older people and a condition for the development of society as a whole.

 

According to a statement released by RYDF, the Rohingya youths called upon the international community for an effective implementation of education, empowerment, hunger and poverty, health, environment drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, leisure time activities, girls and women and full effective participation so as to be adjusted with the UN resolution.  And to put pressure on Burmese military ruler and to support all the Burmese opposition youth forums and individuals for a future democracy in Burma, while the Burmese military ruler, State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) totally against the points mentioned above.

 

It also urged upon the ASEAN and neighboring countries of Burma to review the policies towards SPDC, to help establish a genuine federal Union of Burma through meaningful dialogue among SPDC, democratic oppositions led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic nationalities.

 

The Rohingya youths demanded to the SPDC on the occasion of International Youth Day that to release unconditionally student leader Ko Min Ko Naing and all other political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo. Besides, to stop killing of young men and women and rape against ethnic nationalities women and to stop forthwith ethnic cleansing and genocidal actions against the Rohingyas in Arakan and to treat them as human beings in their homeland.

 

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