Myanmar bans OIC from opening office for Rohingya Muslims
Myanmar's President Thein Sein has blocked the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) from opening an office for Rohingya Muslims, an official says.
Sein will not allow the opening of an office in the country "because it is not in accordance with the people's desires," said an official from the president’s office on Monday.
Sein made the decision after thousands of monks took to the streets in several cities to protest against his willingness to help Rohingya Muslims in the crisis-stricken Rakhine state in the west.
Shouting and holding banners reading "No OIC", the protesters said they would not accept any OIC office in the country.
Rohingya Muslims are currently under a brutal siege by the extremist Buddhists in the areas of the state capital Sittwe as well as the city of Maungdaw in the Rakhine state, according to recent reports.
Reports also say some 650 Rohingyas have been killed in the Rakhine state in the recent months. This is while 1,200 others are missing and some 80,000 more have been displaced.
The Buddhist-majority government of Myanmar refuses to recognize Rohingyas and has classified them as illegal migrants, even though they are said to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origin, who migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century.
According to reports, thousands of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims are living in dire conditions in refugee camps after government forces and Buddhist extremists started burning down their villages on August 10.
The UN human rights authorities blame Myanmar’s security forces for the violence, who are believed to have been targeting the Muslims rather than bringing the ethnic violence to an end in the country.
Sein will not allow the opening of an office in the country "because it is not in accordance with the people's desires," said an official from the president’s office on Monday.
Sein made the decision after thousands of monks took to the streets in several cities to protest against his willingness to help Rohingya Muslims in the crisis-stricken Rakhine state in the west.
Shouting and holding banners reading "No OIC", the protesters said they would not accept any OIC office in the country.
Rohingya Muslims are currently under a brutal siege by the extremist Buddhists in the areas of the state capital Sittwe as well as the city of Maungdaw in the Rakhine state, according to recent reports.
Reports also say some 650 Rohingyas have been killed in the Rakhine state in the recent months. This is while 1,200 others are missing and some 80,000 more have been displaced.
The Buddhist-majority government of Myanmar refuses to recognize Rohingyas and has classified them as illegal migrants, even though they are said to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origin, who migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century.
According to reports, thousands of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims are living in dire conditions in refugee camps after government forces and Buddhist extremists started burning down their villages on August 10.
The UN human rights authorities blame Myanmar’s security forces for the violence, who are believed to have been targeting the Muslims rather than bringing the ethnic violence to an end in the country.
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