MYANMAR PROBES ROHINGYA MUSLIM MASSACRE

Rakhine, Myanmar, 29 Rabi’ul Awwal 1435/31 January 2014 (MINA) – Myanmar government says it has launched a probe into the recent mass killing of Rohingya Muslims in the country’s Western Rakhine State, insisting on not allowing any foreign groups to interfere.

Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin said the government itself would form a team to investigate the circumstances that led to the deadly violence in Maungdaw region of the troubled state.

Myanmar government, however, said it would not allow any foreign groups to join the probe, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Authorities accepted to probe Muslim killings in the restive Rakhine state, following international pressure.

UN reports say at least 48 Rohingya Muslims were killed by Buddhist mobs in the latest round of violence in the troubled region.

The Myanmarese government has already rejected the reports as false.

Meanwhile, some other accounts suggest that the government has been also involved in acts of violence against Muslims. Myanmar’s security forces stand accused of turning a blind eye to the crimes by extremist Buddhists against Rohingya Muslims.

Furthermore, international bodies and human rights organizations accuse the government of overlooking the violence against Rohingya women.

The UN recognizes the Rohingya Muslims living in Myanmar’s Rakhine state as one of the world’s most persecuted communities.

Rakhine saw a wave of violence against the Muslim community that left hundreds of people dead over the past two years.

Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar account for about five percent of the country’s population of nearly 60 million. They have been persecuted and faced torture, neglect, and repression since the country’s independence in 1948.

Myanmar government has been repeatedly criticized for failing to protect the Rohingya Muslims. (T/P012/E01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)