“It’s a great pity that the Rohingya are treated as equivalent of a football in a field. I am very concerned about the denial of basic rights to the Rohingya… The government of Burma should recognize its ethnic minority as citizens.”

Amos – the first ever black woman to hold position in UK’s cabinet and also the first black leader in the British House of Lords – said she appreciated that Bangladesh played host to about  Ronhingya refugees in the past and expected the country to continue to provide them safe refuge. Without giving providing exact details, she mentioned meeting with Bangladesh’s foreign minister during her trip to the country on Dec.3.

Amos left for Burma the following day. The UN Under-Secretary-General will travel to Thailand to present her findings at a press conference in Bangkok on Dec.8.

The UN allocated $11 million this year for humanitarian relief. The Saudi government pledged $50 million to assist humanitarian agencies in Burma. Indonesian politician Hayono Isman and deputy chief of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Board at the House of Representatives told participants at a recent two-day interfaith dialog with the Burmese parliament that the Rohingya should be granted citizenship.

“We hope the Burmese government will change its stand to accept the Rohingya Muslims as Burmese citizens because they were born in the country,” US President Barack Obama said in a speech during his landmark trip to Burma that Rohingya are denied the most basic rights.