Activists in French capital support Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar

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Activists in Paris have staged a demonstration to mark the global day of action against the massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar by extremist Buddhists, Press TV reports.

The event in the French capital was organized with the aim of drawing international attention to the brutal killing of hundreds of Muslims and displacement of thousands more in recent attacks by extremist Buddhists, who frequently assault Rohingyas and set fire to their homes.

The Rohingya Muslims are suffering from the lack of food and medicine, an activist told Press TV. He urged the international community and the world leaders to exert pressure on Myanmar’s authorities to end the ongoing violence against the Rohingyas.

Some 800,000 Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar are deprived of their citizenship rights, which have made them vulnerable to acts of violence and persecution, expulsion and displacement.

On October 9, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on Myanmar’s government to allow the Rohingyas to become citizens.

“We are preparing to file a complaint with the international criminal court. Why haven’t they addressed the issue yet? We are very surprised. But an international organization of Muslim lawyers and researchers is working on the case,” said Omar Ezzahiri of the Arab-Muslim Lawyers Association of Europe.

The United States is well aware of the plight of the Rohingyas, but it avoids urging Myanmar’s government to observe the rights of the community, as Myanmar is the new market of the US, said another activist.

The United States and the European Union have come under fire for their silence on the ongoing sectarian violence in Myanmar.

Rohingya Muslims have faced torture, neglect and repression in Myanmar since it achieved independence in 1948.

They are said to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origins, who moved to Myanmar as early as the 8th century.

Myanmar’s government says the only solution to the crisis is to send the Rohingyas to other countries willing to receive them.

AO/HSN Source: Here