THE Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in a declaration on Sunday condemned the atrocities against Rohingyas in Myanmar and also termed it ethnic cleansing. It said: ‘The systematic acts against the Rohingyas by the Myanmar security forces constitute a serious and blatant violation of international law.’
The OIC foreign ministers’ summit also sought international support for implementing the Kofi Annan-led Commission’s recommendations to resolve the crisis. The two-day conference of the 45th OIC Council of Foreign Ministers began in Dhaka on Saturday where the theme was ‘Islamic Values for Sustainable Peace, Solidarity and Development’.
In the inaugural session, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sought cooperation of all Muslim nations to maintain pressure on Myanmar for early repatriation of the Rohingyas from Bangladesh. The OIC foreign ministers earlier on Friday visited refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar to see the distressful situation of Rohingyas in their own eyes.
At that time, OIC Assistant Secretary General Hashmi Yousuf laid emphasis on a more active role of UN Security Council to end this crisis.
At present, Bangladesh is bearing the brunt of keeping more than one million Rohingya refugees who entered here since August last year following a brutal cleansing operation conducted by the Myanmar military.
No doubt, it’s a tough challenge to feed and give shelter to such a large number of people and also provide other necessary things like cloth and medicine. International organizations predicted that, Rohingya crisis would deepen in the future and so, the challenge would be much tougher for Bangladesh.
In the preliminary stage, many countries and organizations showed their enthusiasm to send relief materials for the refugees. But in the recent days they are showing less interest. So, Bangladesh will have to face financial trouble to tackle the situation. Besides, providing security to Rohingya refugees along with maintaining internal security has become another concern.
Several Rohingyas have already spread out in different parts of the country. Recently, the Expatriate minister admitted that 2.5 lakh Rohingyas went abroad using Bangladeshi passports. The natural beauty and ecological system of Cox’s Bazar district are now in danger while miles of forests have been destroyed for their accommodation.
It is unfortunate that OIC has not been able to show willingness to play any effective role anywhere as a force of Muslim countries. The Muslim countries have resources to be a power influence on behalf of Muslims countries. For the Rohingya refugees the OIC countries can do enough but we have to see how much they do. Muslims are being treated as nothing of importance by the USA and many such countries in the West but they are used for their wealth. The Muslim countries are the biggest buyers of military hardware from the West, the money of these countries are kept in US banks. They waste millions of dollars to keep the USA otherwise pleased. There is no concern or shame that the USA is maintaining Israel as a nuclear power to punish the Muslims everywhere. The rich Muslim countries must have a sense of honour and demonstrate their weight and guts to be an influence in establishing justice for Muslims. The Muslim countries must shake of their image in the West as filthy and foolish rich countries.
