Alwaght-Iranians have staged rallies across the country to voice their outrage over the brutal violence and genocide against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
During the rallies, held after the Friday prayers, the protesters chanted slogans such as “Death to Israel” and “Death to the US” and “Death to Zionists” and “Allahu Akbar” - God is the greatest in Arabic.
The demonstrators also issued a statement condemning the global silence on the ongoing crimes against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and called on the international community to take action to restore the rights of the oppressed Muslims.
They also asked for the dispatch of humanitarian aid and a fact-finding committee to the region to investigate the atrocities against Muslims.
Pro-Rohingya marches were also held in several other countries including Pakistan, Japan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Philippines.
Iranian FM warns over crackdown of Myanmar Muslims
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has warned about the continuation of the ongoing crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, urging the international community and the United Nations in particular to take swift action to end the crisis.
“It is expected that the United Nations act swiftly and undertake all necessary measures towards addressing international concerns about the deteriorating situation in Myanmar,” Zarif said in a letter to UN Secretary General António Guterres published on Friday.
He added that UN support for deescalating the violence, ensuring the dispatch of humanitarian assistance to the people in need and finding a sustainable solution to the crisis is essential and the body must act immediately.
Zarif also said the recent “horrifying” news coming out of the region revealed the scope of the atrocities committed against this Muslim community.
Iranians Protesting over Genocide of Muslims in MyanmarHe added that the systematic and indiscriminate attacks against Rohingya Muslims by some extremist elements and agents affiliated to security forces have resulted in the killing of many Muslims and exacerbated a history of discrimination, injustice and desperation in that country.
270,000 Muslims flee Myanmar
The United Nations migration agency Friday confirmed that 270,000 people have fled violence in Myanmar for safety in Bangladesh over the past two weeks, and the number of new arrivals continues to increase.
Separately, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund yesterday also announced a further $7 million to help the thousands of destitute people who continue to flood into Bangladesh.
Most of the people now crossing the border are women, children and the elderly, many of whom are vulnerable and lack the ability to take care of themselves. There are also many pregnant and lactating women among the new arrivals.
Healthcare facilities are also struggling to provide adequate services as the number of people in need of emergency and basic health care continue to grow. Seven mobile health teams have been deployed to the spontaneous settlement areas, and IOM and partners are recruiting more doctors, nurses and midwives to increase the reach of the teams.
UN confirms 1,000 dead
Elsewhere, a senior United Nations representative told AFP on Friday that more than 1,000 people may already have been killed in Myanmar's Rakhine state, mostly members of the Muslim Rohingya minority, a senior United Nations representative told AFP on Friday -- around twice the government's figure.
"Perhaps about a thousand or more are already dead," said Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar.
This is while the European Rohingya Council announced last week that between 2,000 and 3,000 Muslims were killed in Myanmar's Rakhine state within a period of three days from 25-27 August when the country's army started its latest crackdown. Council spokeswoman Anita Schug said thousands other had been injured in what she described as a slow-burning genocide.
Rakhine State in west Myanmar has seen the most serious violence perpetrated against Muslims in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. Reports indicate that thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced there in attacks by regime forces and extremists Buddhists since in 2012 in a deliberate state-backed policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
