World must stand up in support of Rohingya Muslims: Activist

Iran has condemned Myanmar’s government for the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in the Southeast Asian country, slamming all types of discrimination against minorities anywhere in the world. The Rohingya community, which Myanmar’s government brands as “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh, has been suffering widely-reported systematic aggression for years on end. The violence has been interpreted as an attempt to force them out of the country’s demographic configuration.

Massoud Shadjareh, a member of the Islamic Human Rights Commission in London, believes the suffering of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is now coming to such a state that it has been identified by almost everyone an “all-out ethnic cleansing”.  

“Undoubtedly it is a fact that Myanmar Muslims are actually the most persecuted group and that has been identified by the United Nations and indeed their plight has been almost forgotten by the rest of the nation states and indeed the West,” the activist told Press TV.

He also praised Iran for taking such a stand, adding that it is really important that nations stand up in support of the Rohingya Muslims.

However, he said, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Western countries have failed to take a stand against Myanmar.

The activist further noted Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi is becoming “instrumental” in the process of ethnic cleansing of the Muslims in their own land.

Shadjareh further criticized the international community’s “deafening” silence on the frightening reports and evidence coming out of Myanmar.

“We are getting condemnation from all around the world when a bomb goes off in Paris or anywhere else in the European or Western hemisphere and here we are seeing systematic slaughtering, killing and raping and ethnic cleansing of fellow human beings and fellow Muslims and not a whisper coming out of the OIC and not a whisper coming out of the Western governments,” he said.

“This actually shows the politics of the West when it comes to Muslims and in reality we see this is actually also as a result of the level of Islamophobia and hatred which has been created against Muslims that their lives and their being, even the lives of their children, it seems to be not moving anyone and it is not important, whatsoever, when it comes to [the] international community,” he added.

According to the activist, it is up to the people to raise the plight of Rohingya Muslims and stand up for their justice and their well-being because the international community, the politicians and the governments seem to be “incapable” of doing anything.

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