JAKARTA: The Indonesian Red Cross sent a team of aid workers on Saturday to
western Myanmar, where deadly sectarian violence in June left dozens dead and
thousands of Rohingya displaced.
The eight-member team took off in
a military jet from an airbase in the capital Jakarta in the morning with 500
hygiene kits, 3,000 blankets and 10,000 sarongs for the first phase of their
mission.
"This is an agreement
between the president of Myanmar and the Indonesian Red Cross," Indonesian
Red Cross chief Jusuf Kalla told reporters.
"We expect the team to stay
for around a year, but that will depend on coordination with the government and
other Red Cross and Red Crescent teams."
Sectarian violence between ethnic
Rakhine and Rohingya has flared in Rakhine state, where clashes in June left
around 80 people dead, according to official estimates deemed low by rights
groups.
Villages were razed and an
estimated 70,000 people, the majority of them Rohingya, were left displaced in
government-run camps and shelters.
The New York-based Human Rights
Watch has accused Myanmar forces of opening fire on Rohingya, as well as
committing rape and standing by as rival mobs attacked each other.
Myanmar has set up a commission
to probe the clashes after facing heavy criticism from rights groups.
Decades of discrimination have
left the Rohingya stateless and they are viewed by the United Nations as one of
the world's most persecuted minorities.
-AFP/ac
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
No comments:
Post a Comment