Doha meeting to discuss Myanmar Muslims' plight

The meeting will be organised by the Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC ) and Qatar Charity with about 30 regional and international organisations attending the event.

The event follows the first consultative meeting held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, earlier last month.

Ambassador Atta al-Mannan Bakhait, the Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs at OIC said in a press release issued here yesterday that the Doha meeting is the first of its kind in the Arab region since such organisations have not met under one umbrealla to discuss the gravely deteriorating situation in Myanmar.

For his part, Qatar Charity’s executive chairman Yusuf Ahmed al-Kuwari highlighted in a press statement yesterday the importance of co-ordination among those organisations interested in the issue of Rohingya Muslims and the need to take practical steps in this respect.

The co-ordinated joint action between all the concerned organisations working in the rescue operation in Myanmar, whether Islamic or international, would further boost the support needed for the Rohingya Muslims urgently, said al-Kuwari in his statement.

The OIC and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) provided recommendations related to the situation in Myanmar after they held a meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

The meeting asked the international community to support and mobilise efforts in Myanmar in accordance with humanitarian principles like impartiality, neutrality, and independence.

It called for the creation of a special fund for reconstruction and rehabilitation in the region of Arakan under the auspices of the OIC, and an international media campaign, including social media, to share information about the protracted violence in Myanmar and humanitarian consequences for the minority groups in the country.

It called for the setting up of a private group of leading international advocate for peace, sustainable solutions to the unrest in Myanmar and humanitarian consequences for minorities in the country.

It noted that some 69,000 people in Myanmar (also known as Burma) have been displaced by recent clashes in Rakhine State in Western Burma, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). About 46% of the displaced people are children.

More than 5,000 buildings were destroyed. The conditions are dire: Fires have been burning for weeks and a state of emergency has been declared.

According to government reports, the majority of those fleeing are Muslims. The UN reports that some 800,000 Muslims of Rohingya ethnicity live in Myanmar in the northern Rakhine State.

They are regarded as some of the most persecuted people in the world, and face regular food shortages. As clashes continue in their home area, their desperate situation has turned even more horrid.

Some who have fled the recent violence have crossed over into neighbouring Bangladesh. But as the violence continues and more refugees attempt to escape, many are being turned away and any existing refugee camps are being capped.

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