10:54
Ulama
Following this, MUR organized a special
program on Sunday 1st of December 2013 to hand out basic food items
to 400 families identified as belonging to the less fortunate (poor)
category. They were selected from amongst the Rohingya communities living
in the areas of Gombak, Setapak, Sentul, Jalan Ipoh and Kampung Padang Balang.
The function was held in the open space outside the MUR office in Suria Setapak
Garden (Gombak Road, Kuala Lumpur) and was attended by MUR Committee Members as
well as invited guests from the local madrasahs.
Each family received 20 kilos of rice, 10 kilos of cooking oil, 2 cans of
condensed milk and 5 kilos of soap powder (each pack costing approximately
RM100).
We were very fortunate to have Mr.
Rifat Gurbuz (representative of HASANE in Malaysia) as guest of honour. Mr
Rifat assisted and supervised us with the purchase and transport of food items
from the various supermarkets to the MUR office. We also invited him to help us
in handing out ‘gifts’ to all those eligible.
The total cost of the whole event was
RM35,982.70.
We are very thankful to HASANE for also
having contributed 4,000 Euros (equivalent to RM17,500) for helping out
Rohingya victims who were affected by a series of bloody riots caused by the
Buddhist Rakhines since June 2012. Many
of our friends and relatives have lost their homes as well as their belongings,
having been driven out from their villages by the Rakhine Buddhists who
worked hand in gloves with the police and army. These victims sought shelter in
the interior parts of Arakan. The donation from HASANE has already
been sent to our agents in Myanmar who will then take responsibility for the
purchase of food items to be distributed to deserving groups in Arakan.
MUR would like to draw attention to the
fact that special permission is needed from the government in order for
international NGOs to be able to channel humanitarian aid for Muslims in Arakan
as well as other parts of Myanmar. Normally, they will assist the NGOs concerned to take their volunteers
to the affected areas for publicity purposes only but soon after the items have
been distributed to the Rohingya refugees in the affected areas, the government
agents (local police and armies) will force our people to surrender parts (if
not all) of the humanitarian aids to them. In
some instances, the government officials will take the Muslim NGO social
workers to visit a few camps housing Rakhine refugees in order to give the impression
that it was the Rakhine ethnic community that has become victims of the
brutality caused by the Rohingyas!
The MUR leadership is always willing to
take responsibility in ensuring that contributions received from relevant
Muslim NGOs or individuals in Malaysia and other parts of the world are
distributed only to our Muslim brothers and sisters in the affected areas in
Arakan. We will ensure that once the programme is completed we will send
detailed reports (including photographs) to the donors concerned.
MUR hopes and prays that the leadership
of HASANE will continue to receive protection and guidance from The Almighty.
Photographs taken during the function on 1st
December 2013
