Topic: Controversial Cultural and Religious Practices
Country: Myanmar
Delegate Name: Semaj Torain
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Myanmar position papers GLIMUN 2018 committees
Cultural practices and religious practices are cherished among the very religious background of Burma. Myanmar is the world's most religious Buddhist country in terms of its successful history among the people of Myanmar and the number of monks that reside in Myanmar. Around 89% of the population are Theravada Buddhists. Typically when a certain religion is more dominant, it is more accepted amidst the people. But a minority group of ethnic people called the Rohingyas (Muslims), face a large amount of discrimination from the nation, that pressures them into changing their lifestyle in order to pursue the “Burman way of life.”
In 1948 Myanmar voted for the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly. However, the United Nations Convention against Torture which tries to prevent torture and other acts of cruel, inhuman,l or punishment, around the world, has not been ratified by Myanmar, as of 2016. The development of basic human rights to women and children have been signed but the progression to torture of ethnic groups have not been signed or ratified.
As a country, although we are not ready to sign any treaties, we still want to lessen the amount of discrimination and oppression against the Rohingyas. The reason for that is because we don’t want to stray away from our beliefs that run through the veins of our history. We want to help the Rohingyas that were affected by the Exodus and we want to begin to see eye to eye when it comes to the culture of Burma and how it should be.
