DG of ARU appeals to OIC member states to step up their efforts by using bilateral relations for finding a solution to the crisis faced by Rohingya and Myanmar Muslims

RB News

April 17, 2013

On behalf of Rohingya community in Myanmar and various regions around the world, the Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union, Prof. Dr. Wakar Uddin, expressed his deepest gratitude to the Secretary General of OIC, His Excellency Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, for convening the emergency OIC Ministerial Contact Group meeting at the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on April 14, 2013, to find a solution to the crisis faced by the Rohingya and Myanmar Muslim population in Myanmar. Dr. Uddin echoed what the Secretary General Dr. Ihsanoglu and the Political Officer Ms. Dina Madani have spoken about the current situation in Myanmar. Dr. Uddin reinforced the presentation by Ms. Madani that detailed the graphic nature of the violence against the Muslims in Myanmar. “I have been regularly in touch with our community in Arakan and Central Burma, and receiving reports of horrifying atrocities and gruesome murders of men, women, and children. It is humanly unthinkable in this day and age how anyone in Myanmar can commit such crimes against humanity. In fact, what the international community learning from the media is just a fraction of the bloodbath taking place in Myanmar.” Dr. Uddin said. He further stated “The campaigns to uproot Islam from Myanmar began with Rohingya in Arakan. The radical Buddhist elements started this with Rohingya first, claiming that they have to cut-off the roots before eliminating the tree ‘Islam’ in Burma - Rohingya being the roots.” 

Dr. Uddin alerted the OIC member states and the Muslim Umma that the rapidly emerging Buddhist terror Network “969”, which seriously deviates from the original teaching of peace by Buddha, poses the most serious threat to Islam in Burma today and subsequently to the stability of Southeast Asia region. “You see the refugee crisis in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other countries. At the same time some sorts of violence have started to spill over to these countries. Subsequently, violence has also erupted in Sri Lanka. The emergence of the radical Buddhist terror network could continue to cause the domino effects in the region and in other parts of the world.” he stressed. 

Dr. Uddin expressed the gratitude by Rohingya people to the international community, including OIC and its member states, UN, the governments of US, Canada, and several European countries, and a number of NGOs for their tremendous efforts to stop the violence in Myanmar and find a durable solution to Rohingya and Muslim issues; but he also appealed to them to do more. He cautioned some of the OIC member states in the region that when the very existence of a community and the faith in a country is seriously threatened, the policy of “non-interference in another country’s internal matters” becomes counter-productive and serves as a tool for the aggressor. Dr. Uddin called on the OIC member states to use their bilateral relations as an avenue to persuade and pressure the Myanmar Government to resolve the issues with utmost urgency for the sake of humanity and the stability in the Southeast Asia region. “Your Excellency, it is no longer a Rohingya issue. It is becoming a regional and potentially global humanitarian crisis.” he concluded.

On the sideline, Dr. Uddin also met with dignitaries from some OIC member states, including the Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Bangladesh, and further discussed the pressing issues on Rohingya and violence against Muslims in Myanmar. “I am very satisfied with each meeting, and I can assure you that they are dedicated to bringing a solution to the issues faced by Rohingya and Myanma Muslims” Dr. Uddin replied, when asked by the Saudi-based ARU signatories about his separate meetings with the Foreign Ministers.