Saudi King allocates $ 15 million to relied Myanmar’s persecuted

Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz has ordered the allocation of $15 million to alleviate the suffering of the persecuted Muslim Rohingya minority fleeing Rakhine state terror in Myanmar.

Royal Court adviser and general supervisor of the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Work Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah in a statement reported by the state-owned news agency (SPA).

He made the remarks following his meeting with members of the National Council on US-Arab Relations and the Cooperation Committee for partnership between the US and Gulf Cooperation Council at the headquarters of the US House of Representatives in Washington.

“A specialized team from the center will be heading to Bangladesh within the coming few hours to make an assessment of the condition of Rohingya refugees there and to find out what are the essential requirements that are to be made available to them urgently, as well as to extend assistance in terms of relief, humanitarian help and shelter.

“As per the directive of the King, the center has carried out a number of projects, while some others are in various phases of implementation,” Al-Rabeeah said.

He added that the center has implemented the first phase of the repatriation of Rohingya from Rakhine state in a number of governorates in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration.

On the other hand, A leading international rights group has called for targeted sanctions and anarms embargo against the Myanmar military in response to an offensive that has sent over 400,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh to escape what the United Nations has branded as ethnic cleansing. 

The latest eruption of violence in the western Rakhine State of Myanmar, formerly Burma, began on Aug. 25, when insurgents belonging to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked police posts and an army camp, killing about 12 people.  Rights monitors and fleeing Rohingya say Myanmar security forces and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes responded with what they describe as a campaign of violence and arson aimed at driving out the Muslim population.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar rejects that, saying its forces are carrying out clearance operations against the insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which claimed responsibility for the August attacks and similar, smaller, raids earlier in October.

“Burmese security forces are committing ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya and disregarding the condemnation of world leaders,” said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch (HRW). “The time has come to impose tougher measures that Burma’s generals cannot ignore,” he said