UAE forms new platform to tackle Muslim minorities’ issues world over

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates has come up with a unique idea to launch a platform to address challenges faced by Muslim minorities across the world.

The platform, The International Muslim Minorities Congress (IMMC), is being convened by the Muslim Council of Elders and will include representatives from 140 countries. The congress will be held on May 8-9 in Abu Dhabi.

The Chairman of the International Muslim Minorities Congress, Dr Ali Al Nuaimi informed the media in a local hotel of Abu Dhabi during a press conference along with the member of the IMMC Dr Mohammed Bechari.

Dr Nuaimi said that this organisation will help bridge the gap between Muslim minorities and the governments. He expressed a hope that the conference would provide a platform to tackle issues of marginalisation and disenfranchisement in non-Muslim countries.

“Muslims in non-Muslim countries are facing many challenges, whether in terms of services or education … but the biggest challenge is for them to fit in with their societies." Speaking with The News, Dr Nuaimi said that the UAE has created an opportunity to form a platform for Muslim minorities across the globe to serve them and help them to integrate into the societies.

He acknowledged that Islam was hijacked and presented to the world with a distorted image. He said that some countries unfortunately have abused that to serve their political agendas and there have been many victims as a result.

“If a person wants to live in Germany, they have to live by German laws and as a German citizen given their rights and fulfilling their obligations”, Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi said. He believed that the success of the conference will help bring more security and stability across the world and to showcase Islam as a religion for peace and love.

It would be one of the biggest conference that is to be held in the emirates next month, the organizing committee informed The News at the sidelines of the press conference. Muslim leaders and government officials will meet in Abu Dhabi next month to discuss ways to prevent radicalization among an estimated 500 million people.

Vice Chairman of the conference’s high committee Dr Mohammed Bechari said that "This is a unique event because for the first time in history, Muslim minorities will gather under one roof to discuss their issues and interact with each other".

While talking with The News, Dr Mohammad Bechari said that the platform will discuss setting up a strategy to prevent ideologising the "Islamic world" outside the Islamic countries and to teach the Muslim citizen to be a good citizen in their host community.

The conference comes out of the UAE’s civilisational message to promote the culture of peace and tolerance between the followers of different religions and cultures and as an effort to protect the children and youth of the Muslim minorities from the currents of violence and extremism.