The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the reported killing of hundreds of Rohingya Muslims, including women and children, by drone strikes while they were fleeing violence in Myanmar.
Witnesses says the drone strikes on August 5 hit displaced families waiting to cross a river to Bangladesh. Reports say some 200 people were killed. The Arakan Army (AA), a group fighting the Myanmar military, were reportedly responsible the killings.
“We condemn this monstrous attack on innocent civilians seeking to escape violence and call on the international community to protect Rohingya Muslims from violence and oppression, whether by the Myanmar government or its opponents,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
In 2022, CAIR welcomed a determination by the Biden administration that violence against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority amounts to genocide and crimes against humanity.
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com