UN chief calls for ending violence against Rohingya Muslims

'It is an absolutely essential priority to stop all violence against Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims,' Guterres told reporters on Friday.

'What has happened is an immense tragedy and the levels of violence and the atrocities committed are something that we cannot be silent about,' he added.

'We insist on the need to make sure not only that all violence against this population stops, but also ... we insist on the need to reassert the right of return,' UN chief noted.

He went on to say that 'We'll go on engaging in all possible domains for these objectives to be finally achieved.'

Guterres had earlier called for granting citizenship rights to Rohingya people, saying 'The Muslims of Rakhine state should be granted nationality.'

'While the present Myanmar citizenship legislation only allows it partially, an effective verification exercise should be conducted in the interim to allow those entitled be granted citizenship based on the present laws,' UN News Center quoted Guterres as saying.

Rohingya Muslims have been experiencing one of the most brutal ethnic cleansing in the past two years. Prior to the 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis and the military crackdown in 2016 and 2017, the Rohingya population in Myanmar was around 1.1 to 1.3 million. They reside mainly in the northern Rakhine townships.

Many Rohingyas have fled to neighboring states. More than 100,000 Rohingyas in Myanmar live in camps for internally displaced persons, not allowed by authorities to leave.

Iranian government has so far sent several humanitarian aid consignments to Myanmar Muslims through Bangladesh borders.

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