Persecution against Rohingya unacceptable: Egypt’s amb in UN

CAIRO – 29 September 2017: Egyptian Ambassador to the United Nations, Amr Abu Al-Atta, Thursday, called on the Burmese government to adopt urgent measures against the unfortunate persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and allow humanitarian aids into the country.

Myanmar has been the scene of several ethnic violent conflicts during the last years, but the Muslim community is suffering the most; According to media reports, more than a million people of the Rohingya Muslim community in Myanmar, previously known as Burma, are facing state-sponsored genocides and have long been systematically persecuted and expunged from the national narrative.

During his speech, Abu Al-Atta said the Rohingya Muslims have undergone decades of discrimination and disenfranchisement, stressing this crisis is “totally unacceptable.”

The Rohingya community is located in the Rakhine State in the western part of the country, making up one-third of the population.

Ethnic discrimination has prohibited the Rohingya from several public services such as education, health care and employment. More than 140,000 Rohingya people live in inadequate camps, moreover, they are barred from travelling outside their villages without permission.

Media reports documented the systematic deterioration of the Rohingya's situation since communal violence broke out in June 2012 in Burma’s Rakhine State.

Earlier this month, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb, delivered a televised speech on the Rohingya crisis and called on the international community to deliver an act of justice to the Muslim victims who suffer ethnic violence, describing it as “a war crime”.