Muslim world must play an active role in helping Rohingya Muslims: Sartaj

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime minister’s adviser on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz said the extraordinary meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers should convey a message of hope for the Rohingya Muslim community and collectively Ummah must play an active role to help the Rohingya Muslims in these difficult times.

Addressing the extraordinary meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers Thursday on the plight of Rohingya Muslims minority here he said we hope that the democratically-elected government of Myanmar will address this issue in a sympathetic manner.

At the same time he added the OIC member states can supplement the efforts being carried out by the government of Myanmar to amicably and judiciously resolve this issue without any further loss of life or property and at the same time provide all possible support to the Rohingya Muslims.

As already emphasised Sartaj said the plight of Rohingya Muslims continues to pose a major challenge to the conscience of the international community.

With renewed violence, the situation in Rakhine State has become dire primarily because the root causes of the problem have not been addressed since 2012 and 2014 when similar human rights violations took place in the region. Pakistan has always supported oppressed Muslim population and consistently raised our voice against human rights violations committed in Kashmir, Palestine or any other part of the world.

In the case of Rohingya Muslims, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at various international forums, he added. Besides urging the Myanmar government to take necessary measures to protect the basic human rights of the Rohingya Muslims and to allow access of humanitarian assistance to the affected areas, Pakistan has also raised the issue in the UN Human Rights Council in March and July 2015. 

In June 2015 the prime minister of Pakistan addressed a letter to UN secretary general and called for intensification of diplomatic and moral pressure on the Myanmar government to grant the requisite rights to Rohingya Muslims and to provide them relief.