US asks Bangladesh not to shut down humanitarian groups
"The United States is deeply concerned by the Government of Bangladesh's stated intent to shut down non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have been providing critical humanitarian aid to Rohingya residing in Bangladesh," US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement.
More than 800,000 Rohingya Muslims live in Myanmar, but they are not recognized by the government as one of its ethnic groups. Deadly sectarian riots and a subsequent government crackdown in the region led many Rohingyas to flee to Bangladesh, which also does not accept them.
Bangladesh last week told three NGOs to stop providing food and other humanitarian aid to Rohingyas because the assistance could encourage more people to try to cross the border from Myanmar.
Ventrell said the US continues to monitor the tensions in Myanmar's Rakhine state and has urged the government of Myanmar to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
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@Ahmed jani:
Hmmm... Rohingyas are Indo Muslims, speaking an indian language similar to Bengali. They jumped the fence from bangladesh to myanmar within the recent generations. Thus, by the two nation theory, they are bangladeshis. So it is wierd why the Bangladeshis refuse to take in one of their own. Is the two nation hypothesis wrong?
Why don't some of the wealthy Muslim nations provide funding to help these poor people - akin to the Palestinian situation - all talk and little action.
These Rohinga Muslims should be rehablitated and settled in Afghanistan.
i really appreciate US role for Rohingya muslims.a non muslim US has done for Rohingya that no muslim country could do.even Bangladesh refused them food (worst crime). all other muslim countries did nothing just slogans.i liked America