Solution to Myanmar Violence Lies in Local Community, Experts Say
Any resolution to the religious violence threatening Myanmar’s nascent reforms must come from within the country, according to experts who notice some Buddhist monks already confronting anti-Muslim rhetoric spread by extremist groups.
Although foreign governments and NGOs-as well as the broader international community-want an end to the problem, they can only play a supporting role in addressing the tensions without having their efforts backfire, the experts said this week at a Washington conference on ethnic and religious tolerance in Myanmar.
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“The most important voices should come from within the sangha,” or the Buddhist monastic community, as well as from civil society groups within Myanmar, she said at the Stimson Center conference in Washington.
“It needs to be led by the local community, with the international community quietly supporting from behind.”
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