Turkish NGO urges help for Rohingya orphans

KOCAELI, Turkey

An Istanbul-based NGO on Sunday urged other Turkish groups to work together to help Rohingya children orphaned by the violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Speaking at an event called “The Rakhine State Awaits Help” in Kocaeli, northwestern Turkey, Ismail Yilmaz, head of the Mavi Marmara Freedom and Solidarity Association, said: “Let’s set up camps for these children and receive them there.”

Half of the 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh -- 350,000 -- are children, he added.

“Around 30,000 of them are orphans. Nearly 15,000 of them are unaccompanied. We should take care of them,” he said.

Rohingya families are still crossing the Naf River into Bangladesh to flee what UN officials have called “ethnic cleansing” by the military.

Turkey has been at the forefront of providing aid to Rohingya refugees, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised the issue at the UN.

Yilmaz compared the plight of the Palestinians and Rohingya Muslims, saying: “Our Rohingya brothers are now experiencing the same problems that our Palestinian brothers have been experiencing for over 60 years.”

"Today only around 600,000 out of nearly 4 million Rohingya have been left in their own territory," he said, stressing the extent of the crisis.

Fleeing violence

Since Aug. 25, over 607,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh, according to the UN.

The refugees are fleeing a military operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages.

According to Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali, around 3,000 Rohingya have been killed in the crackdown.

Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

The UN has documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings and disappearances committed by security personnel.

In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.

Reporting by Kadir Yildiz; Writing by Nilay Kar