OIC Urges Obama To Raise Rohingya Plight During Myanmar Visit

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 (Bernama) -- Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has urged re-elected US President Barack Obama to raise the critical issue of violence against Rohingya Muslims, during his visit to Myanmar on Nov 19.

He urged the president to raise the issue with Myanmar's highest authorities and its opposition leader, to end the violence immediately. He believes that this is the first step to restoring peace in the country and for national reconciliation in maintaining its democratisation.

This should also include the protection of human rights for all ethnic minority groups, the OIC reported him as saying in a letter to Obama on Tuesday.

According to several reports, Obama's purpose of going to Myanmar is to meet President Thein Sein, as well as Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The OIC secretary-general also drew the president's attention to the critical situation of the Rohingya minorities in Myanmar, who are facing continuous repression and violation of human rights.

Ihsanoglu said, this was an issue of serious concern for the international community and particularly, for the Muslim world, adding that OIC was concerned with the scale of violence which was becoming dangerously close to a situation of ethnic cleansing.

He said that on Sept 5, a high-level OIC delegation had gone to Myanmar to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Myanmar Government to set up an office there. However, the office was not established as the Myanmar Government had retracted from the agreement.

He added that a special discussion on the Rohingya issue would be held during the 39th OIC Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting in the Republic of Djibouti from Nov 15 to 17.

There is a lot of emphasis on the Rohingya issue because the OIC is concerned about the disastrous effects it could have on the country and the world, with regard to peace and security.

In his letter to Obama, Ihsanoglu also pointed out that the OIC had repeatedly urged the Myanmar Government to take immediate steps to end the violence and create a conducive environment for national reconciliation.

This could be done by addressing the root cause of the problem, such as the exclusion of the Rohingya Muslims from ongoing reform process.

"The Rohingya minorities should not be overlooked because of the new regime in Myanmar.

"The government of Myanmar has a moral and legal obligation to protect the oppressed minorities, to restore their citizenship, to allow them to return to their homes and to put an end to the hate campaign against them," he noted.