Solidarity pours in

Six more eminent global citizens yesterday expressed solidarity with the open letter that 12 Nobel laureates and 15 global personalities sent to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) calling for its immediate intervention to end the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

They are --- Bono, a musician and founder of advocacy organisation ONE; Richard Curtis, a writer and activist; Javed Akhtar, a poet and lyricist; Salman Khan, an educationist and founder of Khan Academy; Shabana Azmi, an actor and activist; and Asma Jahangir, a human rights activist.

They sent their names to Yunus Centre yesterday for adding in the open letter's list of signatories, said a press release issued by the Centre.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Nobel laureates, including Prof Muhammad Yunus and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and the global citizens, including former Norway Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and former Ireland President Mary Robinson, sent the letter to the UNSC.

In the letter they said, "We call on the UNSC to intervene immediately by using all available means. We request you to take immediate action for cessation of indiscriminate military attack on innocent civilians that is forcing them to leave their home and flee country to turn into stateless people."

They urged the UNSC to persuade Myanmar government to take immediate steps to implement the recommendations put forward by the Rakhine Advisory Commission that Myanmar itself established last year under the pressure of the international community.

The move comes at a time when around 4 lakh Rohingyas fled Myanmar Army's crackdown in Rakhine in the last three weeks and entered Bangladesh.