Indonesian protests in support of Myanmar Rohingya

By Ainur Rohmah

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia

Rallies were held across Indonesia on Wednesday in a show of support for Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, local media reported.

In the capital Jakarta, protesters prayed outside the Myanmar embassy and called on Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, to cut diplomatic ties with Myanmar.

“May Rohingya Muslims be given patience and strength to fight the military regime of Myanmar,” one speaker said, the kompas.com news website reported.

Around 1,000 gathered outside the embassy while another demonstration was held in Bandung, the capital of West Java province. Elsewhere, Muslim groups collected donations for Rohingya.

At least 6,000 police were on duty at the demonstrations, kompas.com reported.

More than 123,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh since a fresh security crackdown was launched on Aug. 25.

Refugees have described soldiers and Buddhist mobs torching their villages and killing civilians in a bid to force them out in the latest wave of violence to affect Rakhine’s 1.2 million Rohingya.