A Malaysian relief team distributed aid to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh on Wednesday (February 15), following persecutions by Burma.
Nearly 70,000 Rohingya have fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar’s Rakhine State to Bangladesh after its security forces responded to border attacks, which it blamed on Rohingya militants four months ago.
Malaysia, a country which has openly criticised the persecution, has sent aid to help the hundreds of thousands of refugees who have been reportedly abused by Burma security forces.
Haji Abdul Azeez Bin Abdul, the head of the relief team who came to Kutupalong refugee camp in the coastal town of Cox’s Bazar, said more aid will be given to the Rohingya.
Rohingya have faced discrimination in Burma for generations. They are not classified as a distinct group under citizenship laws and are regarded instead as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, entitled only to limited rights.
Burma’s military launched what it describes as a counterinsurgency operation in north-western Rakhine in October. A United Nations report last week said soldiers have committed mass killings, gang rapes and arson.
About 1.1 million Rohingya live in apartheid-like conditions in northwestern Burma.
Burma has denied almost all allegations of human rights abuses, and says a lawful counterinsurgency campaign has been under way since the October attacks on its security posts.
The violence has dismayed and outraged some of Myanmar’s neighbours with mostly Muslim Malaysia being particularly vociferous in its criticism.
It has supported Muslim groups and aid organizations to arrange a shipment of more than 2,000 tonnes of aid for Rohingya.
[Note: Burma was officially renamed “Myanmar” after a military coup in 1961.]
(REUTERS)
