I know you may think the attacks on Rohingya Muslims don't concern you, so you haven't been paying too much attention to it; allowing maybe a brief moment of sadness as you click through the highlight reel of tragedy before moving on with your day. But you should care. You should be very concerned. We all should, and I'm going to tell you why.
Innocent lives have been taken with faulty justifications as Myanmar rejects accusations of genocide and crimes against humanity. As if targeted oppression and attack on a distinct ethnic and religious group isn't wrong.
As I continued to research this on-going tragedy in Myanmar I was reduced to tears. The images that have been released surrounding the destruction and blatant genocide of the Rohingya Muslims and their homes are horrific. There are hundreds of them dead, men, women, and children alike, all burned to nothingness along with their homes or shot down by soldiers and Buddhist militia. The remaining are running for their lives, seeking refuge wherever they can.
You may think this doesn't involve you or isn't your place to act. Perhaps because you don't share the same religion as them, don't live in or near Myanmar, or aren't concerned with politics. And I understand that because a lack of common ground makes it more difficult to be empathetic. However, we are closer to them than you think. Because just like us, these Rohingya Muslims that are being persecuted are actual human beings. (Shocking, I know.)
They are individuals, each with their own passions and fears, each a part of a family and deserving of basic human rights. Yet we stand by while their rights are stripped from them, allowing them to be minimized to something less than human as if they are somehow undeserving of life.
People are dying and the world is just watching. So if you think this matter doesn't concern you, I urge you to reconsider. Because it may not be you right now, you may not feel the pain and terror that the Rohingya Muslims are enduring at this very moment, but one day you might. And if you don't choose to stand and speak up for those who are hurting now, then you best believe no one will be fighting for you when your time comes either.
So help make a change, help start a revolution of unification through diversity. Don't allow differences to break us apart. Make the world a better place by speaking up in the face of injustice even when it's not against you; especially when it's not against you.
