Arakan News Agency
New York City has seen a protest rally outside UN headquarters against abuses and massacres committed by the army and extremist Buddhist militias against Rohingya Muslims in Arakan province in western Myanmar.
Hundreds of protesters from the Muslim community gathered in the Dag Hammarskjöld park opposite the United Nations headquarters where they performed Friday prayers (US time) and took part in a mass demonstration condemning violence against Arakan Muslims.
In a speech at the rally, the head of the Islamic Leadership Council in New York, Abd al-Hafid Jamil, said they met in front of the UN headquarters to “speak for the oppressed in the world and to call for international action to save them.”
Jamil stressed the need for the United Nations to take the necessary measures to stop the violations committed by the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar from killing and displacement by the Buddhist authorities and militias there.
The demonstrators strongly condemned the State Counselor, Myanmar Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, as well as her country’s army, calling for an end to the massacres.
The demonstration was attended by members of the US-American National Steering Committee (TASC) and the Federation of Turkish-American Associations (TADF). Pictures of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the flag of Turkey were seen by demonstrators.
The demonstrators expressed their thanks to Turkey and its President Erdogan for the relentless efforts in relief of Rohingya Muslims since the outbreak of the crisis in Arakan at the end of August, which led to the migration of tens of thousands of civilians to Bangladesh.
Representatives of the Jewish and Christian communities in New York took part in the demonstration, holding banners reading “Stop the killing of innocent Rohingya Muslims” and calling for UN action to condemn human rights violations.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday that the number of Arakan refugees to Bangladesh to escape the violence that erupted in Myanmar, about 400,000 people, including 220 thousand children under the age of 18.
Since August 25th, the Myanmar army has committed genocide against Rohingya Muslims in Arakan province (Rakhine), killing and injuring thousands of civilians, according to Araakan activists.
Protest in New York against “genocide” of Rohingya Muslims
