People in Palmerston North, New Zealand Call for End to Genocide of Rohingya Muslims
About 200 people gathered in The Square to hear speakers talk about the links between New Zealand and Myanmar and the horror of refugees at hearing reports of upheaval and violence in their home country.
Palmerston North Rohingya refugee Najm-Ullah called for action from the around the world.
"There are terrible stories of rapes, killing and houses burning due to ongoing violence and persecution. We are rejected by the country we call home and unwanted by our neighbors.
"The military government has taken all our citizens' rights ... because of that we are living in such a way that we can't study, we can't get passports or anything for a better life."
Shams-ud-Din, visiting from the Rohingya community in Auckland, also spoke.
"We Rohingya people in New Zealand would like our government to contribute to finding a durable solution in the long term, and New Zealand people to support our brothers and sisters that are in need."
Palmerston North MP Iain Lees-Galloway condemned the Myanmar government.
"We are gathered as one community, made up of people of many faiths, many ethnicities, many countries of origin. We stand together to call on the government and military of Myanmar to stop the persecution and violence against the Rohingya.
"We know there's a history to this conflict, but the truth is, a minority has been persecuted by a well-resourced majority. Violence is not a solution to any conflict."
On Thursday, United Nations secretary-general António Guterres called for immediate action to address the "humanitarian and human rights nightmare" unfolding as 500,000 people fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
"We have received bone-chilling accounts from those who fled" the UN News Centre reported.
The violence "must end immediately".
Source: .stuff.co.nz
