Source Bankokpost, 3 June
US President Barack Obama greets attendees during an event with 75 emerging leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as part of the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday. (AFP photo)
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Which country would United States President Barrack Obama prefer to live in if he were a Rohingya and why?
That was the question put to Mr Obama by Thai youngster Pensiri Bangsiri, who represented the country in a Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Fellows programme, during a question-and-answer session at the White House.
Ms Pensiri said she previously worked on anti-human trafficking projects. Her question drew a round of laughter from the meeting's participants.
President Obama paused before saying he would like to speak broadly before answering the question.
He said one of the most important things is to put an end to discrimination against people because of what they look like or what their faith is.
"And the Rohingya have been discriminated against, significantly, and that's part of the reason they are fleeing," Mr.Obama said.
He then got to the point.
"I think if I were a Rohingya, I would want to stay where I was born. I would want to stay in the land where my parents had lived. But I'd want to make sure that my government was protecting me and that people were treating me fairly. That's what I want," he said.
He added that as part of a democratic transition, it's important to take the issue of how the Rohingya are being treated seriously.
"One of the things about discriminating against people or treating people differently is by definition that means that people will treat you differently, and you never know when you will find yourself in a situation in which you are a minority, where you are vulnerable, where you are not being treated fairly," Mr Obama said.
The US's first African-American president said he knows discrimination directly because he witnessed anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia where he spent his childhood that are very violent and vicious.
''The one thing I know is countries that divide themselves on racial or religious lines, they do not succeed. That is rule number one,'' Mr Obama said.
''Rule No. 2 is nations that suppress their women do not succeed. Not only is it bad because half the country is not successful because they are not getting education and opportunity but it's women who teach children, which means children are less educated if you are not teaching the moms," he said.
US President Barack Obama greets attendees during an event with 75 emerging leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as part of the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday. (AFP photo)
Related Stories
•Pressure mounting for US to intervene in migrant crisis
•Trafficking camps go beyond Songkhla
•Myanmar increases civil servant pay
Which country would United States President Barrack Obama prefer to live in if he were a Rohingya and why?
That was the question put to Mr Obama by Thai youngster Pensiri Bangsiri, who represented the country in a Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Fellows programme, during a question-and-answer session at the White House.
Ms Pensiri said she previously worked on anti-human trafficking projects. Her question drew a round of laughter from the meeting's participants.
President Obama paused before saying he would like to speak broadly before answering the question.
He said one of the most important things is to put an end to discrimination against people because of what they look like or what their faith is.
"And the Rohingya have been discriminated against, significantly, and that's part of the reason they are fleeing," Mr.Obama said.
He then got to the point.
"I think if I were a Rohingya, I would want to stay where I was born. I would want to stay in the land where my parents had lived. But I'd want to make sure that my government was protecting me and that people were treating me fairly. That's what I want," he said.
He added that as part of a democratic transition, it's important to take the issue of how the Rohingya are being treated seriously.
"One of the things about discriminating against people or treating people differently is by definition that means that people will treat you differently, and you never know when you will find yourself in a situation in which you are a minority, where you are vulnerable, where you are not being treated fairly," Mr Obama said.
The US's first African-American president said he knows discrimination directly because he witnessed anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia where he spent his childhood that are very violent and vicious.
''The one thing I know is countries that divide themselves on racial or religious lines, they do not succeed. That is rule number one,'' Mr Obama said.
''Rule No. 2 is nations that suppress their women do not succeed. Not only is it bad because half the country is not successful because they are not getting education and opportunity but it's women who teach children, which means children are less educated if you are not teaching the moms," he said.
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