DUBAI: Saudi Arabia-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in partnership with Qatar Charity to to organize the second meeting of the humanitarian organizations on the humanitarian situation of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims. The meeting, which will be held in Doha on Thursday, followed the first consultative meeting in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur earlier last month. Ambassador Atta Al-Mannan Bakhait, OIC Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs in a press release issued from Doha on Tuesday said that the Doha meeting “is the first of its kind in the Arab region since such organizations have not met under one umbrella to discuss the gravely deteriorating situation in Myanmar.” The meeting hopes to see 30 regional and international organizations attend the event. Qatar Charity's Executive Chairman Yusuf Ahmed al-Kuwari stressed in a press statement on Tuesday the importance of coordination among organizations interested in the issue of Muslims of Rohingya and the need to take pratical steps in this respect. “The coordinated joint action between all organisations working in the rescue operation in Myanmar whether islamic or international, would further boost support needed for the Rohingya Muslims urgently,” said al-Kuwari in his statement. The OIC and the non-governmental organizations had previously provided a nine points recommendations related to the situation in Myanmar after they held a meeting on August 3 in Kuala Lumpur. Since mid-June, Bangladesh authorities have admitted to forcing back at least 1,300 Rohingya trying to flee to Bangladesh, though the actual number is likely substantially higher, Human Rights Watch said. Rohingya are escaping killings, looting, and other sectarian violence in Arakan State, as well as abuses by the Burmese authorities, including ethnically motivated attacks and mass arrests. A United Nations senior official expressed serious concern about reports of human rights violations committed by security forces in Myanmar's Rakhine state, after clashes between its Buddhist and Muslim communities reportedly killed at least 78 people and displaced thousands in July. “We have been receiving a stream of reports from independent sources alleging discriminatory and arbitrary responses by security forces, and even their instigation of and involvement in clashes," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said in a news release. “Reports indicate that the initial swift response of the authorities to the communal violence may have turned into a crackdown targeting Muslims, in particular members of the Rohingya [Muslim] community," she added. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the state, located in the country's west, was triggered when an ethnic Rakhine woman was raped and murdered on May 28. This was followed by the killing of 10 Muslims by an unidentified mob on June 3. Pillay called for a prompt, independent investigation, noting that the crisis reflects the long-standing and systemic discrimination against the Rohingya Muslim community, who are not recognized by the Government and remain stateless. “The government has a responsibility to prevent and punish violent acts, irrespective of which ethnic or religious group is responsible, without discrimination and in accordance with the rule of law," Pillay said. She also called on national leaders to speak out against discrimination, the exclusion of minorities and racist attitudes, and in support of equal rights for all in Myanmar. She also stressed that the UN was making an effort to assist and protect all communities in Rakhine state. “Prejudice and violence against members of ethnic and religious minorities run the risk of dividing the country in its commendable national reconciliation efforts, undermine national solidarity, and upset prospects of peace-building," Pillay said. Meanwhile, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is delivering aid to the more than 30,000 people that were affected by the violence. “As we speak, additional tents are being airlifted from the Republic of Korea to meet urgent shelter needs on the ground," a UNHCR spokesperson, Andrej Mahecic, told reporters in Geneva.
