THE governments of the developed world, after invading Iraq when no massacres were taking place, are doing nothing when genocide is taking place in Burma, or Myanmar, just as they did nothing when it happened in Rwanda and nothing until far too late in Bosnia (Letters, September 14).

The entire Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar is being massacred or forced to flee the country. This is based on a propaganda campaign that has been going on for decades to make people believe Rohingya are “not Burmese” but “illegal Bengali immigrants” from Bangladesh.

Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for centuries. It’s as if the British Government declared all Catholics living in Britain to be “illegal Irish immigrants” because many of their ancestors came from Ireland.

Calling these massacres “unacceptable” is not enough. Military action against the Myanmar military to prevent the killing would be justified. This would be vetoed by the Chinese and Russian governments, so would have to be without UN approval.

Failing that, there should be immediate bilateral economic sanctions placed on Myanmar by all governments condemning the massacres. These should only be lifted if the massacres end, Rohingya refugees are allowed to return home and are given their rights as equal citizens. Again, this could not be done through the UN as it would be vetoed by the Myanmar military’s allies. This could be enough to make Myanmar’s military reconsider. It released Aung San Suu Kyi from jail and allowed her to become a figurehead to have previous sanctions lifted.

It’s clear the military retains most power, and that Suu Kyi is unwilling to demand the same basic rights for Rohingya as she demanded for her own ethnic group, whether due to fear of the military or her or her supporters’ prejudices.

Duncan McFarlane,

Beanshields,

Braidwood,

Carluke.

NORTH Korea has shown itself to be immune to the attempted diplomacy solution of relatively weak sanctions imposed so far by the UN Security Council (UNSC), gambling that China in particular and Russia also will not agree to more powerful sanctions that could damage or destroy its fragile economy as these might lead to civil unrest and even an attempt at regime change .

With this failure of sanctions, could China and Russia resist a demand for the UNSC to issue a clear warning to North Korea by way of a resolution confirming that Japan is acting within its rights if it chooses to defend itself by shooting down any missile approaching its territory?

Successful defensive action by Japan on that resolution might deter North Korea from directing further missiles towards Japan as it would no longer be able to determine the full range of these missiles, which seems to have been the reason for the firings.

Also, North Korea has form in such defensive action as I recollect it shot down an airliner and has sunk naval vessels, alleging they were in its territorial airspace and waters .

Alan Fitzpatrick,

10 Solomon’s View,

Dunlop.