Turkish foundation helps thousands of Rohingya

The Turkish Religious Foundation (TDV) said on Thursday it had delivered emergency humanitarian aid to over 100,000 Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh in a month.

Teams from the foundation helped refugees at Shamlapur, Balukhali, Kutupalong, Palangkhali, Gailmara, and Leda refugee camps in Bangladesh, the foundation said in a statement.

Aid included food, clothes, hygiene products and shelter materials, the organization said.

The foundation also launched a cellphone campaign -- 'Do not leave Arakan alone' -- through which volunteers are asked to donate 10 Turkish liras ($2.8) through a text message.

Donations can be also made at www.bagis.diyanetvakfi.org.tr

More than 480,000 Rohingya have crossed from the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine state into Bangladesh since the outbreak of fresh violence on Aug. 25, according to the UN's migration agency.

The refugees are fleeing a military operation in which Myanmar's armed forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages.

According to Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali, around 3,000 Rohingya have been killed in the crackdown.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.