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Several Iranian women’s groups have written a letter to the United Nations condemning ongoing violence perpetrated against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
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The groups urged the international body, as well as fellow Muslim governments and human rights activists, to take immediate steps to end the aggression carried out by Myanmar's security forces, according to the Tehran Times.
The letter argued that the international community has been deeply shaken by Myanmar's “vile treatment” of the Rohingya people, especially women and children. It noted that broadcast images of massacres, burnt bodies and assaults against civilians are reminiscent of grave human rights abuses, “the likes of which the world doesn't want to see repeated.”
The latest document comes on the heels of a previous letter sent to Executive Director of U.N. Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on September 7. Written by Vice President of Iran for Women and Family Affairs Masoumeh Ebtekar, the letter slammed the “horrific acts of violence” committed against the Rohingya.
“I appeal to you in utmost sincerity that you take whatever measures within your powers to prevent this ongoing human catastrophe,” Ebtekar wrote.
Some 125,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar's Rakhine state since violence intensified on August 25, according to the latest U.N. figures. Myanmar officials claim violence broke out after Rohingya insurgents attacked dozens of police posts and an army base.
Rohingya activists, however, dispute that version.
Myanmar rejected a ceasefire by the insurgents, declaring that the country does not negotiate with “terrorists.”
At least 400 people have been killed as a result of the ensuing military counter-offensive.
Warning about the risk of ethnic cleansing and destabilization of the region, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has appealed to Myanmar's authorities to put an end to violence perpetrated against Rohingya Muslims.
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