KUWAIT: Kuwait's Mercy International, part of the Association for Social Reform, launched a campaign to distribute around 4,000 food parcels to some 16,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, said an official Wednesday. Mercy International's Indian subcontinent bureau Chief Mohammad Al-Qassar said via phone that aiding Myanmar's Rohingya minority was a humanitarian duty which Kuwait would gladly participate in.

He indicated that the Rohingyas, who are escaping persecution in Myanmar, are in desperate need for aid considering their current dire situation. As a nation eager for truth and justice, Kuwait will stand by the Rohinyas "who are abused and massacred by the Buddhist majority in their country," said Qassar who called on all components of Kuwaiti society to aid their fellow Muslims in Myanmar. He urged people to donate to the campaign through Mercy International headquarters all over Kuwait or through the committee's website.

Meanwhile, Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) and IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation announced yesterday that they are working together to deliver relief aid and assistance to Rohinya refugees in Bangladesh. KRCS Chairman of the Board Dr Hilal Al-Sayer said that the society was keen on collaborating with other international partners to help the Rohingyas Muslims. In the upcoming days, the KRCS and associates will launch a campaign in support of the Rohingyas escaping persecution from the Buddhist majority in Myanmar. In the previous weeks, some 300,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine State in Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). - KUNA