Iran ready to send aid shipments to help Myanmar Rohingyas: Official

Press TV

July 4, 2013

Iran deputy foreign minister says the Islamic Republic is prepared to dispatch humanitarian aid consignments to Myanmar in order to help with the relief of the Rohingya Muslims in the Southeast Asian country.

In a meeting with Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Zin Yaw in Naypyidaw on Wednesday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Pacific Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi elaborated on Tehran’s principled policies towards the developments in the Muslim World. 

He also voiced the deep concern of the Iranian authorities, scholars and nation over the ongoing sectarian clashes between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, urging the Myanmar government to adopt effective measures to properly resolve the issue. 

Araqchi further noted that Iran is ready to send aid shipments to Myanmar, and help to improve the miserable living conditions of Rohingyas. 

Thousands of Rohingyas are deprived of citizenship rights due to the policy of discrimination that has denied them the right of citizenship and made them vulnerable to acts of violence and persecution, expulsion, and displacement. 

The Myanmar government has so far refused to extricate the stateless Rohingyas in Rakhine state from their citizenship limbo, despite international pressure to give them a legal status.

The extremists frequently attack Rohingyas and have set fire to their homes in several villages in Rakhine. Myanmar Army forces have allegedly provided the fanatics with containers of petrol for torching the houses of Muslim villagers, who are then forced to flee. 

Hundreds of Rohingyas are believed to have been killed and thousands displaced in attacks by extremists, who call themselves Buddhists. 

Rohingyas are said to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origin, who migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century. 

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have issued separate statements, calling on Myanmar to take action to protect the Rohingya Muslim population against extremists.