OIC chief Ihsanoglu
says targeting of Muslims in central Myanmar in March and April has been a
particularly worrying development. (AN photo)
Arab News:
July 5, 2013
July 5, 2013
The Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold on July 7 and 8 the Arakan Rohingya Union
Conference at its headquarters in Jeddah.
The charter of the
Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) will be submitted to the members for discussion in
preparation for its adoption.
The agenda of the
conference will also include introduction of the current and new members of the
union, which was established by the OIC in May 2011 to unite the Rohingya
refugees around the world.
Waqarudin, director
general of the first session of the union, will present his report on ARU’s
achievements. The conference will look into the strategy and action plan of the
union in the next session, in addition to electing officials and the formation
of the Supreme Council, the committees and advisory board.
In a letter sent
through his special envoy, OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told
Myanmar President Thein Sein that the organization, on behalf of the 57 heads
of the member states, is ready to assist in reaching a long-term solution to
problems of Muslims in Myanmar.
Special envoy Talal
Daous, director of minorities department at the OIC, accompanied by Hassan
Abdin, delivered the letter last week.
In the letter, the
secretary-general said the OIC is ready to assist in any way to reach a
long-term solution for the existing and emerging problems of all Muslims in
Myanmar, who deserve nothing less than the basic rights accorded to any citizen
of Myanmar, including access to urgent humanitarian assistance.
The special envoy
delivered the letter to Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin and during the
meeting discussions focused on the importance of the secretary-general’s visit
to Myanmar and the Contact Group on Myanmar.
“We believe that a
long-term solution to the problems of the Rohingya Muslims can only be found
through the restoration of their legal status and the recognition of their
birth right, including citizenship,” said Ihsanoglu.
He said the
targeting of Muslims in central Myanmar during the last week of March and last
week of April has been a particularly worrying development for the reason that
unlike the Rohingya Muslims, the recent events involved Muslims who are
integrated in the Myanmarese society with full citizenship rights in areas
outside the Rakhine region.
“We are concerned
that what was once considered as a case of inter-communal violence confined to
one part of Myanmar now has the danger of spreading throughout the country,”
Ihsanoglu said.
The OIC chief said
that with the cooperation of the authorities in Myanmar, OIC member states
would be willing to establish a collaborative mechanism with Myanmar to provide
economic and humanitarian assistance to all those in need, confidence building
between communities, interfaith dialogue and technical expertise to assist
Myanmar in its democratic transition and integration into the international
community.
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