SCOTTSDALE, AZ, UNITED STATES, September 9, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In the recent days, over 400 ethnic Rohingya Muslims were massacred by the Myanmar government, leaving hundreds of thousands stateless. According to Amnesty International, the death toll numbers are higher. It is heartbreaking to see the numerous videos and pictures of torture and inhumanity being perpetrated upon the Rohingya by Myanmar government forces. CNN reported that according to asylum seekers in Bangladeshi refugee camps, many were “beaten, shot at, and hacked to death. Scores of women were raped and brutally killed.”

According to the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), “Refugee camps in Kutupalong, Bangladesh are filled to the capacity and exhausted. Bangladesh alone has accepted an estimated 270,000 asylum seekers.” India, on the other hand, “wants to deport 40,000 Rohingya asylum seekers,” reported India Today. As with many asylum seekers fleeing persecution, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and many other NGOs report many dangers they face on the high seas.

It is humbling to know that Malaysia sympathizes with and is ready to provide temporary shelter for Rohingya fleeing violence. As reported by Reuters, “Malaysia’s coast guard will not turn away Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar and is willing to provide them temporary shelter.” However, the welfare of the ethnic Rohingya need to be met. Many of them arriving Malaysia, or who are already in the country are in need of medical care, care for the elderly, and schooling for their children.

Therefore, Karthi Foundation USA strongly urges the Malaysian governent to not only provide temporary shelter to the Rohingya people, but to become a signatory to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol. According to the UNHCR, some of the rights granted to refugees under the Convention will be “elementary education, public relief and assistance, free access to courts, identity papers, and travel documents.”

Karthi Foundation USA is grateful to Malaysia’s generosity of giving temporary shelter to refugees over the years from several countries including Myanmar. Sadly, the fate of refugees currently in Malaysia are in limbo, not knowing where they will be settled, if they will end up in a detention center in another country, or worse, repatriated back to the countries they originally fled from. While the world is watching, we hope Malaysia will take a stand as a champion of the Rohingya people at the next UN Human Rights Council Session.

Karthi Foundation USA
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