Call for Int'l Intervention in Rohingya Crisis

The calamitous situation of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar warrants the immediate intervention of international organizations, particularly the United Nations Security Council and its peacekeeping forces, a lawmaker said.

In a recent talk with ICANA, Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, spokesman of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, blasted the international inaction regarding the mass killing of Rohingya, noting that "the religious apartheid in Myanmar is slaughtering the Muslims there and those pretending to advocate human rights are keeping silent."

The Rohingya are often said to be the world's most persecuted minority. They are an ethnic Muslim group in the majority Buddhist country and make up around one million of the total 50 million population.

They hail from the country's northwest and almost all live in Rakhine, one of the poorest states, with a population of three million.

The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Myanmar and regarded as illegal migrants, despite claiming roots that date back centuries.

The authorities in Myanmar are often using repressive tactics against the Rohingya, which are seen by many as an excuse to banish the impoverished community to other countries, particularly Bangladesh that is also growing increasingly hostile to Rohingya recently.

In the latest attacks, the Myanmarese Army has mounted a crackdown on the Rohingya since August 25 after some of its posts came under attack by militants that the armies alleged were Muslims.

The skirmishes and ensuing army assaults have killed at least 400 people and led to the evacuation of more than 11,700 "ethnic residents" from Rakhine, according to government officials accounts.

However, many have put the actual number of those killed well above 1,000.

The parliamentarian called on all Muslim countries to condemn the violence there, saying that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation must convene at the earliest opportunity to find a solution to the problem.

The UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Wednesday to discuss the violence, but there was no formal statement on the crisis.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, said, "We also mobilized the OIC. We will hold a summit regarding Arakan [Rakhine State] this year. We need to find a decisive solution to this problem," Anadolu Agency reported.

Hosseini said it is very unfortunate that nothing is being done to ease the concerns of the oppressed Rohingya, noting that "it is not enough to just issue a report or condemnation; something must be done in this regard."