(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Myanmar’s government has established a commission tasked with launching a probe into the recent breakout of violence against Muslims in the western part of the Asian state.
The development came on Friday after the Myanmarese President Thein Sein's website announced the formation of the 27-member commission.
Headed by a retired Religious Affairs Ministry official, the commission includes representatives from different political parties and Islamic as well as other religious organizations.
The commission is slated to submit its report on September 17.
The Buddhist-majority government of Myanmar refuses to recognize Rohingyas and classifies them as illegal migrants, although the Rohingyas are said to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origin, who migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century.
The UN human rights authorities point the finger of blame at Myanmarese security forces, who are believed to have been targeting the Muslims rather than bringing the violence to an end.
According to reports, thousands of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims are living in dire conditions in refugee camps after government forces and Buddhist extremists started burning down their villages on August 10.
Reports say some 650 Rohingyas have been killed in the Rakhine state in the west of the country in recent months. This is while 1,200 others are missing and 80,000 more have been displaced.
The United Nations says decades of discrimination have left the Rohingyas stateless, with Myanmar implementing restrictions on their movement and withholding land rights, education, and public services from them. The UN has also described the Muslim community as the Palestine of Asia and one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
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The development came on Friday after the Myanmarese President Thein Sein's website announced the formation of the 27-member commission.
Headed by a retired Religious Affairs Ministry official, the commission includes representatives from different political parties and Islamic as well as other religious organizations.
The commission is slated to submit its report on September 17.
The Buddhist-majority government of Myanmar refuses to recognize Rohingyas and classifies them as illegal migrants, although the Rohingyas are said to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origin, who migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century.
The UN human rights authorities point the finger of blame at Myanmarese security forces, who are believed to have been targeting the Muslims rather than bringing the violence to an end.
According to reports, thousands of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims are living in dire conditions in refugee camps after government forces and Buddhist extremists started burning down their villages on August 10.
Reports say some 650 Rohingyas have been killed in the Rakhine state in the west of the country in recent months. This is while 1,200 others are missing and 80,000 more have been displaced.
The United Nations says decades of discrimination have left the Rohingyas stateless, with Myanmar implementing restrictions on their movement and withholding land rights, education, and public services from them. The UN has also described the Muslim community as the Palestine of Asia and one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
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