Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Nov. 29th, 2018

[Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to ask each of you, actually, about Mr. Win's comments, which I'd like you to maybe go back to and revisit in the context of some of the other things you've talked about.

Just due to time, I'm not going to repeat everything, but I am going to talk about the issue of failing to see patterns, the issue of not having intervened, and long-standing issues and reports with graphic evidence. Mr. Win said that something that was problematic was the tone of the media.

I don't know if that's something that can be influential in a different or modified or renewed response, a resolve response from the international community.

Maybe I could hear you talk a little bit about how you see it.

Maybe we'll start with you, Ms. Wolsak, and I'll go to Mr. Win in a minute. I'll let the panellist in person here comment on that first.

Thank you.

[Samantha McGavin]

Certainly there is an inwardness that's been encouraged, I think, by the government towards international media, and a scepticism and framing of things as fake news. We have several partners who are independent media organizations who are sharing ethnic perspectives and reporting in ethnic areas but as much as they may have a certain reach, it doesn't include the whole country.

It is something that needs to be considered in terms of being able to reach people to try to counter what is a very powerful machine in terms of trying to poison the well.

[Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Nikki or Rebecca, do you have anything to add?

What about media in the outlying countries such as China?

[Rebecca Wolsak]

I'm sorry, I don't really know about the media in China.

[Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Okay.

Mr. Win, perhaps we can go to you and you can talk a little bit more about the tone of the media and how that has been a problem in this whole saga.

[Kyaw Win]

I would divide it into three parts: one media in Burma, the media in the international community, and then the media in China, you may say.

The first media, in Burma, is one of the key tools that is propagating anti-Muslim hate speech. These media are owned by the cronies and the military and a general. They are one of the very big issues creating more problems for the Rohingya people and other Muslim minorities and other minorities.

In the international community, I think the media is one of the important phenomena to more clearly convey the message of what is happening on the ground. One of the problems with the media is that they always focus on the hot topics. They are very focused on their audience and what the audience would like to hear.

That worries us because while the normal issue of oppression remains, there are still killings going on and people are still fleeing. People are still facing so much oppression. This does not become newsworthy but it is a very dangerous thing. We are already seeing that now. During the military operation, the media on a daily basis—every second, every minute, every hour of the day—reported about the Rohingya issue.

There are not many Rohingya news issues in the news any more, but the problem continues on the ground. People are still facing so many problems, even though there are no military operations.

What I am worried about is that in order to bring political momentum, create more pressure, and gain agreement and support from the international community, the media play a very important role. We need the media to continue to focus on the issues that are very important, which does not mean a military operation yet but still there are important issues we must keep highlighting until the solutions come.

[Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

We did have an emergency debate on this issue. We did revoke Aung San Suu Kyi's Canadian citizenship.

I guess some would argue that those things, without the concrete action you were talking about, are superficial. In terms of the media, however, and the argument that Mr. Win is making, they do help substantiate a reason to put something in a headline again and continue it, especially in western media.

What are some of the concrete steps you think we should be taking as an independent country, and then as part of an international community, as part of a larger movement, that hopefully would catch on more than what's already been done?

[Kyaw Win]

I think media in Canada has been doing amazing work and we are really grateful for it.

If I may say, of course media has independence. They have their own rules and regulations, and their own understanding and they go for it.

If I may suggest, this is the momentum that the media picks up—certain issues, certain things, certain hot topics—and we cannot clearly say what it is at a particular time. For example, when some information is launched in the media, and the UN or the Canadian Parliament or the Canadian government is stating something, or there are things that are going to happen on the ground, these are the kinds of moments in which we can highlight those issues and we can continue those issues.

For example, in March, there will be UN human rights sessions in Geneva where they are going to talk about the issues in Burma. All those things need to continuously come up in the media.

[Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Inter Pares, you have 30 seconds.

[Rebecca Wolsak]

I don't know if this is the right moment to add this, but it's somewhat related to what you're saying. I just want to note that there has been a reluctance among the diplomatic community and among the donor community, particularly in Rangoon but also internationally, to talk about Rohingya out of fear of closing the door. They want to keep the door open. They want to keep a conversation going.

I just want to emphasize that there is a huge cost to that.

[The Chair]

Thank you very much.

I want to thank our witnesses, and I thank the members for their questions.

We will be suspending for one minute so that we can go in camera to do committee business.

[Proceedings continue in camera]