Meeting of OIC contact group on Rohingya crisis held

Bangladesh has called upon OIC member states to take steps that will help resolve Rohingya crisis.

Bangladesh has called upon OIC member states to take steps that will help resolve Rohingya crisis.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen made the urge while speaking at the OIC contact group on Rohingya crisis on the sidelines of 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday (September 19).
This was confirmed in a foreign ministry press release issued on Wednesday (September 20) morning.
According to the press release, Dr Momen called upon OIC member states to mobilize their resources to expedite the ongoing case against Myanmar on Rohingya genocide at International Court of Justice (ICJ), filed by Gambia.
He also urged the OIC member states to take collective efforts to create conducive environment inside Myanmar for commencing safe and volunteer repatriation of forcefully displaced Rohingyas to their motherland Rakhine from Bangladesh.
Dr Momen said the permanent solution to the Rohingya crisis through volunteer and sustainable repatriation is the top priority issue of Bangladesh.
He said the Rohingyas have been frustrated due to uncertainty centering repatriation process that resulted in deterioration of law and order situation surrounding the camps in Bangladesh which would be a threat to the regional stability.
The foreign minister said Dhaka offered shelter to 12 lakh Rohingyas on humanitarian ground but delay of the repatriation process posed huge pressure on Bangladesh’s population, economy and environment.
Momen said that support and attention of the international community towards Rohingya crisis has been declining due to various ongoing global crises while only 30 percent of the humanitarian aid for Rohingyas has so far been received this year.
Expressing his gratitude to the OIC member countries for their humanitarian support to Rohingyas, the foreign minister urged them to continue such gesture until the crisis is resolved.
He also praised the role of Gambia for filing the case against Myanmar on Rohingya genocide with the ICJ while Canada, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany and France also expressed their interest to join the legal front.
Gambia’s law minister informed the meeting about the latest situation of their case at ICJ.
Presided over by OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha, the meeting was attended by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Gambia, Djibouti, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Brunei and Senegal.