(News articles from Times of Ummah, BikyaMasr and Pakistan DefenceForum.)
DJIBOUTI – The Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called Saturday for the international community to
protect Muslims in Myanmar’s unrest-hit Rakhine state from genocide as US
President Barack Obama readied for a landmark trip to the country.
“We expect the United States to convey a strong message to the government of Burma so they protect that minority, what is going on there is a genocide,” said Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, who is the acting chairman of the OIC.
“We expect the United States to convey a strong message to the government of Burma so they protect that minority, what is going on there is a genocide,” said Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, who is the acting chairman of the OIC.
“We
are telling things how they are, we believe that the United States and other
countries should act quickly to save that minority which is submitted to an
oppressive policy and a genocide,” he said at the end of an OIC foreign
ministers’ meeting in Djibouti.
Two
major outbreaks of violence in Rakhine since June between Muslim and Buddhist
communities have left 180 dead and more than 110,000, most of them the Muslim
Rohingya, crammed into makeshift camps.
Security
forces are also accused of abuse against the minority.
OIC
Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu of Turkey also urged a stop to what he
called “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya, considered among the most persecuted
groups in the world by the United Nations.
“We
would like the international community to act immediately to stop the ethnic
cleansing,” he said.
OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu of Turkey. |
Obama
on Monday will become the first sitting US president to visit Myanmar –
formerly known as Burma – in a short but hugely symbolic trip that he hopes
will spur greater reform in the once isolated country and highlight a rare
success for his policy of engaging pariah regimes.
Ahead
of the visit, Myanmar President Thein Sein said Saturday that the communal
unrest was hampering the country’s reforms and causing it “to lose face” on the
world stage.
In
October, Thein Sein blocked the OIC from opening an office in the country,
following rallies against the organisation’s efforts to help Rakhine’s Muslims.
The
some 800,000 Rohingya in Myanmar, who speak a language similar to that spoken
in southeastern Bangladesh, are considered illegal immigrants by the government
and many ethnic Burmese.
Myanmar’s
reformist government is under pressure to give them a legal status as it comes
under international scrutiny with warnings that the conflict threatens its
democratic transition.
OIC Delegation led by Secretary-General
Visiting Burma
OIC Foreign Ministers in Djibouti (2012) |
According
to the OIC, the visit will be led by Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu,
and a number of foreign ministers from its member states. “The ministers will
assess the humanitarian needs of those affected by the violence in the Rakhine
state, and also coordinate with the Myanmar authorities to develop a plan for
it,” it said in a statement.
The visit
is part of the resolutions adopted at the recent OIC Council of Foreign
Ministers (CFM) meeting in Djibouti. The 39th CFM urged member states to
intensify efforts in the restoration of the Rohingya Muslims’ nationality and
citizenship rights, and the return of refugees, as soon as possible.
It comes
as the situation for Myanmar’s Rohingya continues to face an uncertain future
as violence continues in Rakhine state. Malaysia, which has a large Rohingya
refugee population, has been pushing for greater aid to the Muslim minority in
Myanmar in recent months.
1Malaysia
Putera Club’s main Humanitarian Mission team, led by President Abdul Azeez
Abdul Rahim, was in Myanmar last month. The 35-member team, said they were assisted
by Prime Minister Najib Razak to gain permission to enter the country based on
Malaysia’s close ties with Myanmar.
An
estimated 500 tons of food, medicine and other items had been sent by ship
followed by 14 volunteers on surveillance mission on September 29. Meanwhile,
the humanitarian mission included singer Irwan Shah Abdullah, better known as
DJ Dave, as the representative of the 1Malaysia Artistes Foundation.
OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu of Turkey. |
A United
Nations senior official expressed serious concern about reports of human rights
violations committed by security forces in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, after
clashes between its Buddhist and Muslim communities reportedly killed at least
78 people and displaced thousands in July.
“We have
been receiving a stream of reports from independent sources alleging
discriminatory and arbitrary responses by security forces, and even their
instigation of and involvement in clashes,” the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Navi Pillay, said in a news release.
“Reports
indicate that the initial swift response of the authorities to the communal
violence may have turned into a crackdown targeting Muslims, in particular
members of the Rohingya [Muslim] community,” she added.
According
to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the violence
between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the state, located in
the country’s west, was triggered when an ethnic Rakhine woman was raped and
murdered on May 28. This was followed by the killing of 10 Muslims by an
unidentified mob on June 3.
Navi Pillay of UNHCR. |
“The
government has a responsibility to prevent and punish violent acts,
irrespective of which ethnic or religious group is responsible, without
discrimination and in accordance with the rule of law,” Pillay said.
She also
called on national leaders to speak out against discrimination, the exclusion
of minorities and racist attitudes, and in support of equal rights for all in
Myanmar. She also stressed that the UN was making an effort to assist and
protect all communities in Rakhine state.
“Prejudice
and violence against members of ethnic and religious minorities run the risk of
dividing the country in its commendable national reconciliation efforts,
undermine national solidarity, and upset prospects of peace-building,” Pillay
said.
Meanwhile,
the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is
delivering aid to the more than 30,000 people that were affected by the
violence.
“As we
speak, additional tents are being airlifted from the Republic of Korea to meet
urgent shelter needs on the ground,” a UNHCR spokesperson, Andrej Mahecic, told
reporters in Geneva.
(Both OIC's Ihsanoglu and UNHCR's Pillay have never said a word about the genocide, massacres, and religious persecution of ethnic Buddhists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh by the Muslim settler and Muslim security forces.)
(Both OIC's Ihsanoglu and UNHCR's Pillay have never said a word about the genocide, massacres, and religious persecution of ethnic Buddhists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh by the Muslim settler and Muslim security forces.)
OIC Planning to Invade and Occupy North Arakan?
Turkish Army Enters Iraq (2011). |
This would
be the first ever use of military force in the history of the OIC, but from
what we understand the possibility of using military force was discussed a few
months back.
The other scenario is that Rohingya
military operations against the fascist junta will continue and escalate, and
ultimately northern Arakan (mainly Muslim) may secede. If as some suspect there is
an American hand in this to block China from accessing the bay of Bengal via
Sittwe (the capital of Arakan) we may even see Rohingya guerillas take
territory as far as Sittwe itself.
Burmese
hardliners angered with the capture of 3 Burmese soldiers apparently by
Rohingya guerillas have even called for military action against Bangladesh, if
that were to happen then the Burmese military would be history.
Turkey,
Saudi Arabia and Indonesia will get involved and the US may even use
Bangladesh/Rohingyas to capture most of Arakan from the pro-Chinese Burmese
junta. This is smart power play by the Americans and huge pressure on the
Burmese junta and ultimately on China itself.
(Probably now is the real time for Burmese
Army to get hold of Nuclear Weapons to defend their beautiful country from the invading
hordes of Muslims! I just hope Burma will not become the epicentre of Third World
War like the Second World War which killed more than one million Burmese, almost quarter a million Japanese soldiers, and about 50,000 Allied troops. )
Related posts at following links:
OIC Conspiracy to Islamize North Arakan
Population Explosion in Bangladesh
Related posts at following links:
OIC Conspiracy to Islamize North Arakan
Population Explosion in Bangladesh