IRNA – The situation of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is very serious, an Iranian diplomat said Sunday urging the global community to solve the crisis and remove the refugees' concerns.


It is necessary that Myanmar, Bangladesh and the global community make an effort to solve the Rohingya crisis, Mohsen Mohammadi, Iran's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Myanmar said in an interview with IRNA.

Prior to the 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis and the military crackdown in 2016 and 2017, the Rohingya population in Myanmar was around 1.1 to 1.3 million. They reside mainly in the northern Rakhine townships.

If their problems are not solved from the roots, Mohammadi added, there will remain no bright future for Rohingya Muslim refugees' secure return.

The fleeing Rohingya told the media that Myanmar security forces shot indiscriminately, burned their homes and threatened them with death. The government says hundreds died, mostly Rohingya.

Most of the Rohingya Muslims, the Iranian diplomat said, are not willing to go back to Myanmar due to security concerns, confiscation of their properties and fear for punishment by Buddhists and extremists.

Elaborating on the Rohingya situation, he said they, on one hand, are concerned about their rights of citizenship, and on the other hand, they live with poverty in the Bangladeshi camps.

In late November 2017, Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees safely; however, the Rohingya Muslims said that they are not willing to do so due to various concerns they will have if they return.

The United Nations refugee agency has underscored that the returns must be voluntary, and take place in safe and dignified condition.

'Their [Rohingya] future is a very serious question,' Mohammadi said.