OIC To Send Delegation To Myanmar Over Acts Of Violence Against Rohingya Muslims

KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 (Bernama) -- The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is taking steps to send a delegation to Myanmar to express concern over acts of violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority there. This was concluded after a meeting with the representative of Myanmar's permanent representative to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, a statement quoting informed sources in the 57-member OIC said. It said that OIC's secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has asked the OIC office in Geneva, New York and Brussels to express concern regarding the act of violence against the Muslim minority "through systematic killings and displacement operations in the absence of international media." "The OIC is still mobilising its resources and energy to defend the Muslim Rohingya minority in Myanmar. It is also working on several international and regional levels in order to make its voice heard," the statement said. The Jeddah-based organisation is also seeking to move in several parallel directions internationally, through the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the United Nations, the European Union and other international organisations, to mobilise possible international efforts to stop the ongoing bloodshed. More than two weeks ago, an OIC delegation informed the UNHRC in Geneva on the nature of acts of violence committed against the Muslim minority in Arakan state, situated in the western coast of Myanmar. This had resulted in international and regional organisations to take prompt and effective action to put an end to the deterioration of the situation in the province. Ekemeleddin has also expressed the OIC's firm position against such massacre and urged the government of Myanmar to immediately investigate the massacre against the Muslim minority. He urged Myanmar to start developing policies that will fulfill the legitimate demands of these people who have suffered and are still suffering from this tragedy for many years. Earlier this month, he had sent a letter to Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, asking her to play a positive role to end the violence in Arakan. -- BERNAMA