RIGHT now, in Myanmar, a heinous crime is being committed by a military force against its own people.

Security forces and local militia have burnt villages of the muslim Rohingya people, committed extrajudicial killings and shot fleeing civilians. This isn’t a legitimate response to terrorism, as they claim: it’s ethnic cleansing.

Meanwhile the government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, remains almost silent.

The treatment of the Rohingya people has sent shockwaves across the world, not least here in Brighton and Hove.

I’ve been meeting with the muslim community and we are shocked as to how little coverage this atrocity has had in the mainstream media.

The desperate situation deserves more attention – and it deserves leadership from the British Government.

The dangers of inaction are more suffering overseas and the potential for greater radicalisation here at home.

I’m joining with muslim leaders in this city to call out the crimes committed by the Myanmar military, and to urge Aung San Suu Kyi to speak out.

I’ve written to the Foreign Secretary and I urge him to put pressure on Myanmar’s government to stop the military operation, let in UN inspectors immediately and implement the recommendations in Kofi Annan’s report.

To step up the international pressure on this issue we need your help too. All of us have the power to make a difference, whether that’s writing to the Government or sharing the news about this atrocity.

We need to spread the word ourselves so that pressure mounts to end this violent campaign.