REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MEULABOH -- Students of the University of Teuku Umaar's Faculty of Technology have organized fundraising activities in public places for stranded Rohingya asylum seekers.
"We have carried out the fundraising activities for the last two days. When we heard that the majority of refugees stranded in Aceh are Muslims, we immediately made this action. As long as they are still in Aceh, we will continue collecting donations," Ridhatul Akram, coordinator of the action, said here, Sunday.
The public must show solidarity toward Rohingya Muslims who have become victims of sectarian conflicts in their country, according to him.
The asylum seekers from Myanmar and Bangladesh are in dire need of food and clothes, he added.
The students lauded the Aceh provincial government for accommodating and helping the Rohingya asylum seekers.
They called on students from other universities in Aceh to also organize fundraising activities for the migrants.
Some 700 Rohingya migrants have stranded in Aceh over the last one week, fleeing discrimination and violence in Myanmar, and victims of human trafficking.
Governor of Aceh Darussalam Zaini Abdullah has provided aid, such as food and clothing loaded in three trucks, to the Rohingya Muslims, who are in dire need of assistance.
U.N. Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein remarked in Geneva on May 15 that the flow of desperate migrants across the Bay of Bengal will continue unless Myanmar puts an end to discrimination against its Rohingya Muslim minority, Reuters reported.
"Until the Myanmar government addresses the institutional discrimination against the Rohingya population, including equal access to citizenship, this precarious migration will continue," he said in a statement.
Al Hussein also pointed out that the situation in Myanmar's Rakhine state, the place of origin of many of the migrants, was "one of the principal motivators of these desperate maritime movements."
The Rohingya minority is described by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted peoples.
In the meantime, Amnesty International has urged the governments of Southeast Asian nations, including Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, to step up urgent search and rescue efforts to ensure that thousands of Rohingya people stranded in boats are not left in dire circumstances and at risk of death.
"Governments in Southeast Asia must act immediately to stop this unfolding humanitarian crisis. It is crucial that countries in the region launch coordinated search and rescue operations to save those at sea. Anything less could be a death sentence for thousands of people," Kate Schuetze, Amnesty International Asia-Pacific Researcher, said in a press statement on May 15, 2015.
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