Burma must protect the rights of its Rohingya Muslim minority, the chief of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said on Thursday, urging the Southeast Asian nation to join hands with Muslim-majority neighbours in tackling a refugee crisis.

Over 20 human rights organisations issue a call to the international community, urging world leaders to pressure the Burmese government into cooperating with a United Nations fact-finding mission on alleged human rights violations in Arakan State and elsewhere in the country.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has sent off a ship carrying tonnes of food and emergency supplies to Burma's Rohingya Muslims.

Foreign ministry says it was "regrettable" that Malaysia called together Muslim governments to put pressure on Burma over the plight of Rohingyas.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called on Burma on Thursday to stop all discrimination and attacks on Rohingya Muslims, and urged the world’s Islamic countries to act to end an unfolding “humanitarian tragedy.”

The United Nations should intervene in Arakan State to stop further escalation of violence against Rohingya Muslims and avoid another genocide like in Cambodia and Rwanda, said the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s special envoy to Burma.