Malaysian Ship with Aid for Rohingya Docks in Myanmar

Rasa - A Malaysian ship carrying 2,300 tons of aid for tens of thousands of persecuted Rohingya Muslims arrived in Myanmar’s Yangon where it was met by Buddhist protesters.

News ID: 427267

Date: 10 February 2017 - 18:15

RNA - Health workers and activists crowded onto the deck of the Nautical Aliya as it docked at Thilawa port near Myanmar's commercial capital on Thursday carrying food, medical aid, and clothing.

Organizers of the aid shipment said they trust the Myanmar government to deliver the supplies as promised despite its record of discrimination, according to Al Jazeera.

Myanmar's social welfare minister was among a delegation meeting the ship, which has been at the center of a rare diplomatic spat with fellow ASEAN member Malaysia.

Outside the docking area, dozens of Buddhist monks and demonstrators waited waving national flags and signs reading: "No Rohingya".

Myanmar denies citizenship to the million-strong Rohingya, despite many of them living on its soil for generations.

Buddhist nationalist groups are especially strong in their vitriol, rejecting Rohingya as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

Hundreds of Rohingya have reportedly been killed in a brutal campaign launched by security forces in October, which the United Nations says may amount to ethnic cleansing.

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