Australian fundraising drive for Rohingya Muslims

By Recep Sakar

MELBOURNE, Australia (AA) - A Turkish-German charity on Friday launched an aid campaign for Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar.

The Australian branch of Hasene International began raising money in mosques in a week-long fundraising drive, Hamid Soylu, a representative of the charity, said.

An estimated 270,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine for Bangladesh since the military launched a fresh security operation on Aug. 25.

Refugees have reported widespread massacres of men, women and children and the torching of Rohingya villages have been documented by the international media and human rights agencies.