Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi speaking at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting on the Rohingya Muslim minority of Myanmar.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi yesterday called for finding a solution to the issue of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar through dialogue and a peaceful and comprehensive settlement.
The remarks came in his address at an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) member states in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the situation of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar.
Al Muraikhi said that the Rohingya issue is a humanitarian one in the first place and requires dialogue and new patterns of cooperation and partnerships, adding that settling disputes is not inseparable from development projects, achieving transitional justice, the rule of law and good governance, and addressing human rights violations.
Al Muraikhi said that Qatar supports national reconciliation and backs all efforts that aim to raise regional and international awareness of the effects of the issue. Doha has pledged financial aid to some neighbouring countries to cover the costs of hosting Rohingya refugees as well as aid inside Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine State, he added.
The Minister said that Qatar's keenness on a peaceful settlement stems from its firm belief that if clashes, hate speech and incitement to violence continue, an environment of violent extremism from all sides as well as chaos might be created, which will negatively affect the peace and stability of the whole region.
Al Muraikhi said that OIC and the international community have a responsibility to play a major role in raising the level of cooperation so as to establish a mechanism at the regional and international levels to solve the issue of Rohingya.
He added that all sides concerned must cooperate to settle the issue in a way that helps Rohingya Muslims live in dignity with their fellow citizens in a safe environment where stability, prosperity, growth and national unity prevail.
Al Muraikhi said that the Muslim world still faces several challenges that affect its unity and stability and limit cultural interaction and global cooperation. Stability in the Muslim world will reflect on the whole world and settling disputes in Muslim states will help in building global peace and consolidating human values.
OIC Secretary General Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al Othaimeen said the organisation is cooperating with Myanmar authorities on various levels, and called on them to follow just and transparent policies towards racial and religious minorities, adding that the authorities must enable Rohingya to restore their citizenship, stop discrimination, violence and the unexplained violations against them.
He added that the organisation received many reports from different sources about violence against the Rohingya Muslims, including unlawful killings, burning of homes, and many arrests by security forces.
More than 65,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh between October 9 and January 5 according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), in addition to thousands who were forced due to the violence to flee to countries that are part of the OIC, Malaysia and Asean included.
Al Othaimeen said that it is likely for the UN to report a humanitarian crises in Myanmar, hence it may not be considered as an internal conflict and should be handled as one of the human rights issued and dealt with attention of the public opinion and the global community.
