Thunder Bay mosque raises money for Rohingya refugee crisis

The Thunder Bay Masjid is raising money for the Rohingyarefugee crisis.

More than 600,000 Rohingyahave fled violence in Myanmar displacing them over the boarder in Bangladesh, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Most of the refugees are women and children.

Themosque is holding a fundraising dinner at theLakeheadUniversity faculty lounge on Nov. 25.

"I think we have to be socially conscious about our decisions and the actions we take," saidJasraRahmath, an organizer of the event.

Rahmathwanted to raise money for theRohingyaafter hearing the Government of Canada will match donations made by individuals to registered Canadian charities from Aug. 25 to Nov. 28. Themoney will go towards the Myanmar Crisis Relief Fund. The mosquehopes to sell over 80 tickets to the fundraiser. So far they havesold a couple dozen tickets, according toRahmath.

TheRohingyaare a stateless Muslim minority that live in the mostly Buddhistcountry of Myanmar.The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,ZeidRa'adAl Hussein, has called the situation a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing."

• Some 600,000 refugees later, Ottawa digs in on dealing with Myanmar on Rohingyacrisis
• 'The scale is just vast': Authorities, aid workers in Bangladesh overwhelmed by Rohingya refugees

"We do have a responsibility to speak out against any human rights violations and help out in whatever way we can even if it's in the tiniest form," said Rahmath.

The mosque hopes to raise $5,000 from the Thunder Bay community that will be matched by the federal government. The governmentdonated$2.55 million to United Nations agencies dealing with the crisisin September.

The event will include two out of town speakers:Saima Jamal, who recently was in Bangladeshworking with Rohingyarefugees, and Washim Ahmed, managing partner of OWS Law, who serves as a spokesperson for the Canadian Rohingya Development Initiative.

"Overall the response has been really positive and people have helped in anyway they can," said Rahmath.