Iran urges swift action to end violence against Muslims in Myanmar

May 18, 2013

Press TV

Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaei 

Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaei has urged a swift end to the violence and the breach of human rights against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

In a meeting with the ambassadors of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Khazaei said suppression and violence against Muslims are taking place despite Myanmar’s claims of democratization and reform.

He criticized a lack of consensus and coordination among Muslim countries to adopt a resolution in condemnation of the atrocities against the Muslims in Myanmar, stressing the importance for Myanmar’s government to take effective measures to stop the violence.

“At a time when Muslim countries are concerned about the situation in Myanmar, the political whim of certain Western states to establish better relations with Myanmar’s government has weakened the process of looking into the situation of Muslims in the country, and Muslim countries, unfortunately, are not using all their means [to push for an end to the violence],” Khazaei said.

The Iranian envoy further stated that the silence and inaction of the international community have resulted in the further violation of the Muslims’ rights in the Southeast Asian country.

He urged the UN General Assembly to hold a special meeting on Myanmar and pass a resolution to stop the brutalities against the Muslims.

He also called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to dispatch an independent fact-finding mission to Myanmar to probe human rights abuses and identify the perpetrators behind the acts of violence there.

The OIC countries should urge Myanmar’s government to arrest and punish the violators of human rights and the perpetrators of violence against the Muslims, he pointed out.

Rohingya Muslims have faced torture, neglect, and repression in Myanmar for many years.

About 800,000 Rohingyas in the western state of Rakhine 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, persecution, expulsion, and displacement.

Hundreds of Rohingyas are believed to have been killed and thousands of others displaced in recent attacks by extremist Buddhists.