Cairo, Sep. 7 (IANS/WAM): The Speaker of the Arab Parliament has called on international organisations to take immediate action to end the suffering of Rohingya Muslims.
In a statement, Mishaal Al Salami on Wednesday called on the UN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to take urgent and immediate action to stop the "massacre" of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's Rakhine state and bring the perpetrators to the International Criminal Court for "committing crimes against humanity".
Expressing regret over the continued killing of innocent civilians, Al Salami stressed that what is happening in Myanmar against the Rohingyas is a "systematic ethnic and religious cleansing", especially of women and children, and the world stands as an "eyewitness".
The Speaker expressed deep sorrow and concern about the international silence on these grave violations, which include genocide and ethnic cleansing as violations of international humanitarian law.
Separately, the Arab Union released a statement, urging the Myanmar authorities to take responsibility by investigating violations and having the perpetrators brought to justice for their actions against Rohingya Muslims.
According to the UN, 123,600 Rohingyas have crossed into Bangladesh as tens of thousands more were internally displaced by the latest violence.
Rakhine state has seen simmering tension between its Buddhist and Muslim populations since communal violence broke out in 2012.
