OIC Pledges Strong Role in Addressing Rohingya Crisis
“We will play a strong role along with Bangladesh, United Nations and international community,” Hesham Youssef, assistant secretary general for OIC's humanitarian affairs, said after visiting Rohingya camps in Kutupalong Friday.
Myanmar should face continued pressure over repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland, he told reporters at a community center in the area, the Daily Star reported.
Youssef also regretted OIC's inadequate role since the Rohingya crisis began on August 25 last year in Myanmar's Rakhine State form where over 700,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh amid a military crackdown.
Rohingyas in Myanmar are denied citizenship and other basic rights since 1982.
There has been no repatriation despite a deal signed by Bangladesh and Myanmar. The UN Security Council has also not been able to take any decisive action in addressing the crisis.
Against this backdrop, Dhaka is hosting the 45th session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers today.
A 53-member high-profile delegation of the OIC arrived in Kutupalong camp in Cox's Bazar around 11:30am and talked to the refugees for about an hour.
Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, Special Envoy to the OIC Masud Husain and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Special Envoy to Myanmar Bob Rae and Bangladesh's Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam accompanied the delegation.
“The Rohingya crisis will be one of our main agenda in the OIC foreign minister's conference,” Youssef, also an Egyptian diplomat, said.
With 57 member states from four continents, the OIC is considered the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations.
Most Commented 