ARU-DG PROF. DR. WAKAR UDDIN ATTENDS THE MAKKAH SUMMIT CONVENED BY KING ABDULLAH OF SAUDI ARABIA
ARU DIRECTOR GENERAL PROF. DR. WAKAR UDDIN ATTENDS THE MAKKAH SUMMIT CONVENED BY HRH KING ABDULLAH OF SAUDI ARABIA
Director General of the Arakan Rohingya Union, Prof. Dr. Wakar Uddin, as part of the delegation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, attended the Islamic Solidarity Summit, which was convened by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah at the Royal Palace in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The OIC delegation includes H.E. Secretary General Prof. Dr. Ehsanoglu, Assistant Secretary Generals H.E. Ambassador Atta Al-Manan Bakhit and H.E. Ambassador Abdul Moiz Bhukhari, H.E. Ambassador to the United Nations Ufuk Gokcen, Director General of the Political Affairs Ambassador Mahdy Fathallah, Muslim Minority and Community Department’s Political Officer Ms. Dina Madani, and others. Dr. Uddin appealed to the entire Muslim Ummah to come together and press the Rohingya issue collectively.
His urgent appeals include intervention by the international community (Muslim Ummah and the Western countries) to pressure the Government of Myanmar to permanently put stop to ongoing violence by Buddhist Rakhine mobs aided by the Burmese forces, immediately stop the arrests of Rohingya men and women, rush the aid to Rohingya victims in all areas and distribute the aid supplies under international supervision, return and resettlement of Rohingya victims at their original homes and properties, protect the Rohingya people from all human right abuses, make concrete steps towards addressing the citizenship issue, and development of educational and economic infrastructure through the aid from Saudi Arabia, Gulf States, Western countries, OIC and other NGOs, and charity groups worldwide, and others. H.E. Prof. Dr. Ihsanoglu also made it very clear to the Burmese government that 1.5 billion Muslims of the world and the 57 nations of the OIC stood solidly behind the Rohingya Muslims. Quoting from the final OIC communique "The summit denounced the policy of brutalization and violence exercised by the Myanmar government against the Muslim Rohingya community, which is contrary to all the principles of human rights, values and international law.”
Base on ARU Director General, Prof. Dr. Wakar Uddin’ s speech at the Executive Committee Meeting’s final Communique was adopted at the Summit of the 57 head of states. The Communique states:
1. Member States to support the United Arab Emirate’s call for a special session of the Human Rights Council and urgently request to file a collective complain to the UNHRC urgently requesting to dispatch a Commission of Inquiry. The council should also ask Myanmar to cooperate fully with the Commission and to take measures to ensure the accountability of all violations of human rights in order to prevent their repetition and continue to monitor the situation.
2. Request the OIC Secretary General and Member States to explore all possible means through engagements with the United Nations including tabling of a Rohingya Muslim specific resolution in the 3rd Committee of the UN General Assembly at the 66th Session of the UNGA.
3. Member States request the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) to examine the situation of Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar as a priority issue on its agenda requiring immediate attention and action while presenting concrete recommendations to the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) towards addressing the issue in an effective manner.
4. Call on all Member States and non-Member States and local and international NGOs to provide Humanitarian assistance to Rohingya Refugees as well as to the internally displaced in Myanmar.
5. OIC Member States to use their diplomatic contacts at the highest level to help alleviate the sufferings of the Muslim population of Arakan.
6. Urges OIC Member States, international organizations, along with Islamic and international civil society organizations to move promptly and provide necessary and urgent humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya people and to assist them in surmounting this grave crisis, in line with the statement issued by the OIC Secretary General in which he appealed to OIC Member States and humanitarian international organizations to do so.
7. Decides to establish an OIC contact group in close coordination with Arakan Rohingya Union composed of all ASEAN Member States who are Member States of the OIC (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia) along with a representative of ASEAN Secretary General and OIC Secretary General. The rest of the membership will be decided by consultation between the OIC Secretary General and interested Member States. The group is mandated to consider ways, means, and mechanisms to ensure the halt of human rights violations against Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar and the return of their citizenship rights.
8. Recommend the Secretary General to appoint a special envoy for this important issue.
9. OIC Secretary General to submit his report to the 4th Extra-ordinary Summit on 14-15 August 2012 in Makkah Al-Mukaramah and the 39th CFM for necessary actions.
10. Send a High- level OIC Representative to Myanmar stand-alone and/or with the OIC Contact Group in Naypidaw.
11. Requests the UN Secretary General to intensify UN activities in order to immediately and unconditionally halt the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and alleviate their suffering
12. Requests the OIC Group in Geneva to follow up the request of the United Arab Emirates’ call for a special session of the Human Rights Council and ensure all OIC Member states to play a positive role in adopting all recommendations specifically a Commission of Inquiry;
13. Call upon world leaders to speak out against these crimes against humanity and urge the Myanmar Government to eliminate the discriminatory law and any other discriminatory practices against the Rohingya people.
14. OIC Member States to remain seized on this matter and requests the Secretary General to provide progress reports on the matter
For the entirety of the Communique Click here
The summit referred to the historical marginalization of the Rohingya Muslims and called on the Myanmar government to ensure an all-inclusive policy towards it's minorities, including Rohingya Muslims, as an integral part of the ongoing democratization and reform process in the country. The summit asked the government to allow full access for humanitarian assistance to the affected people.
It was stated that the policy of repression and violence that the Myanmar government against the Muslim Rohingya community and which can be characterized only as crimes against humanity must be denounced as a source of grave concern for the people and states of the Islamic world in particular, and the rest of the world in general. "Myanmar must immediately cease those practices and grant the Rohingya people their rights as citizens, and the international community must assume its legal and moral responsibility," the summit said in its final declaration.
The conference of the 57 heads of the OIC member countries and the guests, including OIC delegation, presided by HRH King Abdullah, was a closed-door session with no media coverage allowed during the presentations and deliberations.
