They seriously condemned the plight of Rohingya women and children and appealed to the Myanmar government, UN officials, human rights organizations, Muslim states, and human right activists to make efforts to solve the problem of Rohingya Muslims.

The international community is facing another tragedy in broadest dimensions in Myanmar, the letter reads, adding the tragedy has shaken the conscience of humanity.

Images of massacres, burnt bodies and razed homes, the tragic optics broadcast worldwide of women and children living in and at the mercy of the elements and reports of repeated assaults against defenseless civilians, is reminiscent of ethnic cleansing and genocide, it added.

On September 7, the Iranian vice president for women and family affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, sent a letter to UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Women Phumzile Malmbo Ngcuka, saying that the tragic events happening in Myanmar have shaken the conscience of humanity, emphasizing that women and children have been hurt more seriously in the plight. 

She urged the UN official to do whatever in her powers to prevent the ongoing tragedy in Myanmar. 

“I appeal to you in utmost sincerity that you take whatever measures within your powers to prevent this ongoing human catastrophe,” Ebtekar wrote in her letter.

The UN Charter clearly stipulates the responsibility that lies in your hands to prevent conflict and to maintain peace and security, she went on to write.

In this case, which apparently includes -- and not for the first time -- both ethnic and religious cleansing, the UN has a clear global mandate to prevent this ongoing tragedy. The plight of Rohingya women and children is devastating and heartbreaking and requires immediate, sustained humanitarian intervention, Ebtekar wrote.

NM/MG