Myanmar is a nation where the Rohingya Muslims are less than 5% of the total population. It is a nation where the Rohingya Muslims are denied citizenship, denied the right to employment and education, and declared to be illegal immigrants. It is a nation where the Rohingya Muslims have fled out of fear of being murdered, raped, or having their homes burned by the Myanmar military.
Reports made to UN observers in Myanmar document cases of murder, rape, and the burning of villages of the Rohingya Muslims by the military forces of Myanmar. This level of violence has led many Rohingya Muslims to flee Myanmar. Since August 25, 2017, the number of Rohingya Muslims fleeing the nation of Myanmar is reported to exceed 90,000. To date nearly one million (1,000,000) Rohingya Muslims have fled the nation of Myanmar, with over 500,000 fleeing to the nation of Bangladesh alone.
For the International Criminal Court, a Crime against Humanity means certain acts, including murder and rape, committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack. The military of the government of Myanmar is engaged in a systematic removal of the Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar by means of murder, rape and arson. Myanmar is committing a crime against humanity. It is a war crime that the world community must collectively act to stop.
Turkey, Malaysia, and Indonesia are a part of a growing contingency of nations calling for the violence perpetrated by the Myanmar government against the Rohingya Muslims to end.
We, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC), condemn the actions of the Myanmar government against the Rohingya Muslims. We call on our members to contact the United States Department of State, imploring it to take a public position condemning the actions of Myanmar government against the Rohingya Muslims. We also extend our prayers to the Rohingya Muslim community for relief from these criminal acts of murder, rape and the forced removal from their homes and property.
Image credit: Bernat Armangue/AP