Red Crescent’s Kizilay Village gives hopes to Rohingya

By Zehra Melek Cat

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) continues to help Rohingya Muslims with its Kizilay Village Project, the aid group said in a statement on Tuesday.

The just-opened Kizilay Village offers clean drinking water with 17 wells and comfortable living standards to thousands of people with over 1,200 housing units, the aid group said in a statement.

The Red Crescent offers considerable aid to suffering Rohingya Muslims, including shelter, food, clothing, and personal care items.

Since 2012, and especially since August 2017, the agency has delivered over 40 million Turkish lira (over $7.5 million) worth of humanitarian aid for needy Rohingya, the statement said.

Turkey’s leading aid organization also continues to deliver food and personal care kits to 40,000 people every month, it said.

Separately, on Aug. 1 the aid group inaugurated a community center in southeastern Bangladesh for Rohingya refugees who fled state persecution in neighboring Myanmar.

The Hope Village Community Center “focuses on increasing the resilience and self-reliance of refugees in Cox's Bazaar,” Bangladesh, said the group.

The Turkish Red Crescent is the largest humanitarian organization in Turkey, with an international network to help other nations in need.

-Persecuted people

The 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.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, said the OIDA report, titled “Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience. ”

Some 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar’s army and police and over 115,000 Rohingya homes were burned down and 113,000 others vandalized, it added.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly children, and women, fled Myanmar and crossed into neighboring Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017.

The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings — including of infants and young children — brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces. In its report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.

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