The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called a foreign minister-level meeting to be held in Jeddah on April 14 to discuss the issue of violence against Muslims in Myanmar.The OIC has called for the convening of this Contact Group meeting in its headquarters in Jeddah due to renewed acts of violence against Muslims in Myanmar by ‘Buddhist extremists’, which resulted in the killing of dozens of Muslims, burning of their homes, in addition to setting fire to mosques and schools and displacement of hundreds.
Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni is likely to fly to Jeddah on Thursday to attend the meeting, sources at the Foreign Ministry said.
In Bali, Dipu Moni has recently underlined the need for regionally-harmonised response to the root cause of the ‘Rohingya trafficking’ problem.
Voicing concern at the increasing level of transnational crimes, including trafficking of people, drugs and arms across the Bangladesh-Myanmar border contributed by regional trafficking syndicates, she said the security of Bangladesh and of the region faces threats amid rising extremism and terrorism.
The OIC Secretary General, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, announced the plan for the meeting in Jeddah at the level of Foreign Ministers to resolve the Rohingya issue, said a OIC press release.
In his speech at the Contact Group meeting on Rohingya held at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah recently, Ihsanoglu announced two messages, the first was directed to Muslims in Myanmar stressing that the OIC will stand in support of their cause, and that the Organisation and its member states are following up the issue and are ready to take all necessary measures and actions to deal with it.
In his second message, Ihsanoglu addressed the government of Myanmar and stressed that it should put an end to the ‘Buddhist extremists’ and hate campaigns, as well as ethnic cleansing that they had launched against Muslims in the country, pointing out that the OIC will take up this issue to international forums to find a full solution to it.
He warned against the spread of violence, which had began in Arakan State, west of the country, and spread to other regions and cities.
Ihsanoglu called on the countries that are members of the Contact Group to establish contact channels with the international community to implement the recommendations of the Extraordinary Mecca Islamic Summit held last August, stressing the Group’s ability to move and have an effective impact.
Ihsanoglu expressed the organisation’s willingness to coordinate positions in order to provide necessary support to improve the situation of Muslims in Myanmar in order to restore all their legitimate rights and return to their land.
The Secretary General pointed out that the meeting should seek to gain the confidence of the Rohingya people and that the international community should fulfill its promises that are not for compromise or bargain. UNB
