Multifaith Gathering Commemorates One-Year Anniversary of Genocidal Violence
“National Save Rohingya Day” will be a public meeting held on August 25, 2018, the one-year anniversary of the Myanmar army’s brutal assault on and expulsion of 700,000 Rohingya muslims. The event will be a large, lively rally in Federal Plaza in the heart of downtown Chicago.
The Rohingya refugee crisis is one of the greatest catastrophes of the contemporary era. In August 2017, Burmese security forces waged a campaign of terror, committing innumerable crimes against the native Rohingya population. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to the Bangladesh, where they joined hundreds of thousands who had already sought refuge there. Now 889,000 Rohingya refugees still languish in stateless limbo across the sprawling camps of southeastern Bangladesh.
“Save Rohingya Day” will draw attention to this ongoing humanitarian disaster by raising awareness among political leaders, the media, faith communities, and the general public. A lineup of speakers, including Rohingya refugees living in Chicago, will tell their story, faith leaders will lead the assembly in interfaith prayer, and elected officials will be invited to address the crowd as well.
