Rohingya persecution: PPP submits adjournment motion in NA

Urges government to condemn the genocide internationally; develop a policy reflecting sentiments of the nation

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) submitted on Tuesday an adjournment motion in the National Assembly over the "brutal killings and torture of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar."

"The recent atrocities on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have highlighted a grave humanitarian issue," it said in the statement addressed to the Secretary, National Assembly Secretariat.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Myanmar rights group said the systematic persecution of minority Muslims is on the rise across Myanmar and not confined to the northwestern state of Rakhine, where recent violence has sent nearly 90,000 Muslim Rohingya fleeing.

The PPP drew the attention of the lawmakers towards the "mass gang-rape, killings, brutal beatings, disappearances and other serious human rights violations by the security forces of Myanmar in its numerous reports."

It noted that thousands of Rohingya refugees had fled to Bangladesh, while 20,000 were still stranded on borders in the wake of recent clashes.



The statement went on to add that the "satellite images of recent atrocities on Rohingya in Myanmar were appalling and a disgrace to humanity."

"We would urge the government to condemn this massive genocide of Rohingya on  international forums and discuss this issue in the Parliament to develop a policy [in this regard] which reflects the sentiments of the nation."

On Monday, Pakistan called for an end to the ‘systematic’ and ‘organised’ violence against Muslim minority residents of the Rakhine state. It came as Muslim leaders across the world condemned Myanmar for the violence as well as the conspicuous silence of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the issue.

A copy of the statement available with The Express Tribune: