Rohingya to refer to Europeans as Eurasian Christians

From our correspondent in Sittwe

A coalition of Rohingya community and political organisations in Burma and abroad have agreed that henceforth they will call Europeans 'Eurasian Christians'.

"If the European Union can call Rohingya, a Muslim minority in the northwest of Rakhine State, Rakhine Muslims, then we can call Europeans, a Christian minority on the northwest of the Eurasian continent, Eurasian Christians," said Abu Maung, a Rohingya community leader.

European and UN officials have come under fire from Rohingya and human rights organisations for not using the name Rohingya because the government of Burma objects to the term. They argue that ‎by not using the name, they are co-operating with a Myanmar government strategy of denying the Rohingya ethnic identity exists.

"The Eurasian ‎Christian delegation office in Myanmar has been one of the softest on the Myanmar government," complained Abu Maung. "They lifted sanctions months after an ethnic cleansing campaign against us, were the first to stop using the name Rohingya, and are backing an election which for the first time in Burmese history excludes the Rohingya."

When asked about UN agencies in Burma, which also avoid using the word Rohingya for fear of upsetting the Myanmar government, and if Rohingya organisations were also planning to use an alternative name for them, Abu Maung responded, "We already have, ‘complicit’."