Singapore Buddhist Federation says Rakhine violence of 'grave concern'
Channel News Asia, Sept 8, 2017
Singapore -- The Singapore Buddhist Federation has weighed in on the crisis in Myanmar's Rakhine state, saying that the escalation of violence there is of "grave concern".
"We would like to appeal to all parties to stop all acts of violence under whatever pretext," the Federation's president, Venerable Seck Kwang Phing, said in a statement on Friday (Sep 8).
Ven Seck said that the Federation and all Buddhist institutions have strongly supported the fundraising by the Islamic Council of Singapore or MUIS to provide "much needed relief" to the victims.
"We believe humanitarian consideration should transcend all man-made boundaries, be it race or religion," he added.
More than 160,000 mainly Muslim Rohingya civilians have sought refuge in Bangladesh in the last two weeks, said the United Nations. Violence that broke out after Rohingya militants attacked police posts in Rakhine on Aug 25 has resulted in the deaths of more than 400 people so far.
They have flooded stretched refugee camps and are in desperate need of shelter, food and water.
Myanmar says some 27,000 mainly ethnic Buddhist Rakhine have also fled the state.
