Rohingya Muslims’ persecution: OIC, Pope, HRW flay Myanmar

The reports of mass killings, gang rapes of the Rohingya Muslims and burning of their villages in Myanmar by extremist Buddhists and the military have elicited condemnation worldwide.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC); the Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis; andtheHumanRightsWatch(HRW)have variously condemned the unrelenting persecution of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

The OIC is, among others, calling on the United Nations (UN) to intervene in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, where it says the escalation of violence against the Rohingya Muslims could lead to “genocide.”

OIC’s special envoy to Myanmar, Syed Hamid Albar, said the UN should act to resolve the conflict, which is no longer an internal issue but an international concern. “We don’t want to see another genocide like in Cambodia or Rwanda,” he told Reuters.

On his part, the Catholic Pontiff issued a stinging criticism of the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

In his remarks on Wednesday, Pope Francis said the Rohingya had been killed “simply because they want to live their culture and their Muslim faith.

“But they are good people, peaceful. They are not Christian. They are good people. They are our brothers and sisters,” the pontiff said and appealed for prayers for them.

The Pope’s remarks came following last week’s UN report that security forces in the north of Myanmar had carried out mass killings, gang rapes and burned villages.

Similarly, the Human Rights Watch (HRW ) has called on the Bangladeshi government to drop a plan for the relocation of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to a remote island.

It made the plea on Wednesday, saying that the transfer of the refugees from the persecuted Muslim Rohingya community to an uninhabited island in the Bay of Bengal would deprive them of their basic rights, including freedom of movement, livelihood, food, and education.

“The Bangladeshi government is making the ridiculous claim that relocating Rohingya refugees to an island with absolutely no facilities, that is deluged at high tide and submerged during the monsoon season will improve their living conditions,” said Brad Adams, the Asia director at the New Yorkbased rights body.

The Myanmar government has denied full citizenship to 1.1 million Rohingya population and brands them as “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh, though many trace their lineage in Myanmar back generations.