Rohingya Crisis: OIC chief to visit Burma

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday announced that it would soon send a high-level delegation to visit Burma as part of efforts to stop sectarian attacks on members of the Muslim Rohingya community in Rakhine State.

Secretary-General of OIC Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said on December 18 that he received an invitation from Burma’s President Thein Sein and that he would head a high-level delegation including a number of foreign ministers from OIC member states to visit Burma.

Ihsanoglu confirmed to media: “We have not canceled our pre-planned visit to Myanmar, but it was postponed due to insecure conditions in this country,” reported Arab News.

The Rohingya people in Burma, also known as Myanmar, are ethno-linguistically related to the Indo-Aryan peoples of India and Bangladesh, and are viewed by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

Violent clashes between Buddhist Rakhines and Rohingya Muslims beginning in June have left at least 80 dead from both sides, and have forced more than 28,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee their homes.

Bangladesh has refused to accept Rohingya refugees. An estimated 130 Rohingya are missing and presumed drowned after their boat sank while heading to Malaysia earlier this month.

The violence in Rakhine State has cast a shadow over Thein Sein’s reformist government, and prompted calls for UN intervention from the OIC and other members of the international community.

Xiao Ting Shirley