Council of Europe declines to discuss Myanmar crisis

By Omer Aydin

STRASBOURG

A Turkish motion at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to hold an emergency session on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar was rejected on Monday.

Acting president Roger Gale said in an opening session in Strasbourg that the Turkish delegation’s offer was turned down by the Bureau of the Assembly.

Turkey wanted to discuss the Myanmar government's brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims. Instead, PACE agreed to hold meetings on the Catalonia referendum and a new education law in Ukraine.

Since Aug. 25, when the military launched a crackdown against Rohingya militants, 515,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh, according to the UN.

According to Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali, around 3,000 Rohingya have been killed in the crackdown.

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.

Last October, following attacks on border posts in Maungdaw district, security forces launched a five-month crackdown in which, according to Rohingya groups, around 400 people were killed.

Reporting by Omer Aydin; Writing by Ilker Girit