The natives of Sittwe, Pauk Taw, Kyauk Taw, Minbya and Maungdaw townships of Arakan State in western Burma came to the streets on 23rd November to show their displeasure with the senior UN official.

They were particularly upset that Ben Ki-moon, used the word Rohingya when he spoke to the media of the problems facing the Rohingyas in Naypyi Daw on 12th November on the sidelines of the ASEAN-UN summit.

“One Korean [Ban Ki-Moon] used the term which does not exist in Myanmar and that way he interfered in Arakan’s internal affairs. It is unacceptable to us” said Ko Aung Haty, who led the protest programmme in Sittwe, the capital city of Arakan State.

The protesters and the Burmese government prefer to refer to the Rohingyas as Bengali. Aid organisations such as the UN, the US president Barrack Obama and just about everyone else outside of Burma refers to them as Rohingyas, which is what they self-identify themselves as.

Over 5000 people including monks joined in the Sittwe protest demonstration that started at 1 pm. The protestors marched from Winkabar Palace grounds across the port city and dispersed peacefully by 2 pm.

They shouted slogans like ‘UN official Ben Ki-moon, you don't know the truth’, ‘No Rohingyas in Arakan State’, ‘We do not want those who use the term Rohingya' , ‘Arakan State, Arakan State, the native land of the Arakanese’, ‘Arakanese, Arakanese, protect our native land.'

The organizers got the permission from the respective local authorities to lead the demonstration.

“Ban Ki-Moon used the term (Rohingya) which may be dangerous for our society and hence we are protesting,” said  U Sein Hla Phyu, who joined in Maungdaw protest programme.

The protesting Arakanese also sent a letter to the UN office demanding that it removes the term Rohingya from official documents. They alleged that  Rohingya  people were indulging in terror activities and that they are illegal migrants in Burma.