Qatar Charity is soliciting the help of residents here as it launches a campaign to provide emergency aid to the Rohingya people, an ethnic minority persecuted in Myanmar.

Donations can be made through account number 11-000-200 at Qatar Islamic Bank or my texting “Burma” to 92642 to automatically donate QR100. Donations are also being taken through QC’s main office and branches across the country, including all major malls.

In June, security forces in Myanmar committed killings, rape and mass arrests against Rohingya Muslims during deadly riots in the western part of the country, a Human Rights Watch report found:

Government restrictions on humanitarian access to the Rohingya community have left many of the over 100,000 people displaced and in dire need of food, shelter, and medical care…

Burma’s 1982 Citizenship Law effectively denies Burmese citizenship to the Rohingya population, estimated at 800,000 to 1 million people.

On July 12, Burmese President Thein Sein said the “only solution” to the sectarian strife was to expel the Rohingya to other countries or to camps overseen by the United Nations refugee agency.

Qatar’s Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah for Humanitarian Services (RAF) is also working to help those displaced in the violence, and has raised some QR1.2 million so far, its chairman told QNA.

It will start providing relief aid next week.

Thoughts?