UN seeks massive help for fleeing Rohingya
dhaka/yangon — The United Nations appealed on Thursday for massive help for nearly 400,000 Muslims from Myanmar who have fled to Bangladesh, with concern growing that the number could keep rising, unless Myanmar ends what critics denounce as “ethnic cleansing”.
The Rohingya are fleeing from a Myanmar military offensive in the western state of Rakhine that was triggered by a series of guerrilla attacks on August 25 on security posts and an army camp in which about a dozen people were killed.
The United Nations has called for a massive intensification of relief operations to help the refugees, and a much bigger response from the international community.
“We urge the international community to step up humanitarian support and come up with help,” Mohammed Abdiker, director of operations and emergencies for the International Organisation for Migration, told a news conference in the Bangladeshi capital. The need was “massive”, he added.
The violence in Rakhine and the exodus of refugees is the most pressing problem Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has faced since becoming national leader last year.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council on Wednesday urged Myanmar to end the violence, which he said was best described as ethnic cleansing.
The government of Buddhistmajority Myanmar rejects such accusations, saying it is targeting “terrorists”.
Numerous Rohingya villages in the north of Rakhine have been torched but authorities have denied that security forces or Buddhist civilians set the fires. They blame the insurgents, and say 30,000 non-Muslim villagers were also displaced.
“Ethnic cleansing” is not recognised as an independent crime under international law, the UN Office on Genocide Prevention says, but it has been used in UN resolutions and acknowledged in judgments and indictments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. —
We have to take care of everybody who is in our country, whether or not they are our citizens Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar leader
When one-third of rohingya had to flee the country, could you find a better word to describe it? Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General
if the reports of killings, rapes and landmines are true, these are egregious unacceptable acts Nikki Haley, US ambassador to UN
the stance of China regarding the terrorist attacks in rakhine is clear, it is just an internal affair Hong Liang, Chinese envoy to Myanmar
Over the last several years, i have repeatedly condemned this tragic and shameful treatment Malala Yousafzai, Nobel laureate