Queen Rania demands justice for Rohingyas

SHEHAB SUMON
Queen Rania of Jordan shakes hands with Rohingya Muslim children, who have crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, during her visit to Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh, Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. Nearly 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar's Rakhine state since Aug. 25 to escape persecution that the United Nations has called ethnic cleansing. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

COX’S BAZAR: Queen Rania of Jordan visited Rohingya refugee camps in Ukhia and Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh on Monday.
As a board member of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and an advocate of the work of UN humanitarian agencies, Queen Rania made the trip to highlight the urgent need for greater aid efforts in support of those displaced by violence and persecution in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
“Jordan will always stand beside Rohingyas,” the queen said.
Her visit took place on the same day as the EU and Kuwait co-hosted a pledging conference for the Rohingya refugee crisis in Geneva, which aimed to raise $434 million, although a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Vanessa Huguenin, said on Monday it had only reached 26 percent of that target.
Taking to local media after her visit, Queen Rania described the refugees’ accounts as “heartbreaking and harrowing,” and urged the international community in Geneva to give generously.
“It is clear to everybody that there is an urgent need to scale up the humanitarian response,” she said. “So, I urge (those) gathering today in Geneva to respond effectively, quickly and generously. It is unforgivable that this crisis is unfolding on the world stage to a largely indifferent audience.”
The queen continued, “One has to ask: Why is the plight of this Muslim minority group being ignored? Why has this systematic persecution been allowed to play out for so long? The world seems to be silent on what many are now acknowledging as an ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims
“I urge the UN and the international community to do all they can to stop the suffering and the violence that is being committed against the Rohingya Muslims. Not because it is our job to do so, but because that is what justice demands.”