COX’S BAZAR, Oct 23, 2017 (BSS) – Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan called on the international community to respond “effectively, quickly, and generously” to bring an end to the sufferings of Myanmar’s Rohingya minority.
“I urge the UN and the international community to do all that they can to stop the sufferings and the violence that is being committed against the Rohingya Muslims, not because it is our job to do so, but because that is what justice demands,” she said.
The Queen made the call while talking to reporters today during her visit to Kutupalong Refugee Camp and its surrounding in Cox’s Bazar.
She spoke of the “shocking escalation of violence against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar”, which many are acknowledging now as an ethnic cleansing.
The Queen underscored the urgent need to scale up the humanitarian response to this rapidly unfolding emergency, calling on the international community to act without delay.
“With no respect or regard for the principles of humanitarian and international law, the discrimination against and the persecution of the Rohingya minority has continued unabated, in full view of the world,” the Queen said in a statement she gave at the camp.
In her capacity as a board member of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and as an advocate of the work of UN humanitarian agencies, the Queen toured the Kutupalong Refugee Camp, meeting with several Rohingya women and children, who recently crossed into Bangladesh from Rakhine State in Myanmar.
During her visit many of the Rohingyas recounted the brutalities they witnessed in their homeland, as well as the difficulties they continue to experience in overcrowded makeshift camps.
Some of the Rohingya young girls narrated their dreadful experiences of systematic rape when some others told her how they’ve seen their own parents were killed right before their eyes by soldiers.
“Before coming here, I had braced myself to witness some desperate conditions, but the stories I heard today were heartbreaking and harrowing,” she said, adding that this is something that is unacceptable.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam along with State Minister of Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze Chumki received the Queen upon her arrival in Cox’s Bazar on a special flight.
They also briefed her on the state of the Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh and the government’s activities to face the crisis.
The Queen thanked the government and people of Bangladesh for their “enormous compassion, kindness, and generosity.”
She also expressed her gratitude to humanitarian organisations providing lifesaving support to Rohingya, including the UNHCR, UNICEF, IOM, and IRC.