OIC delegation visits Rohingya camps in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – A high-profile delegation from the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC) visited Rohingya camps in the southeastern coastal district of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh on Tuesday to learn more about the situation of the Muslim minority that was forced to flee their native Myanmar due to military persecution.

According to the UN, the Rohingya community is the world’s ‘most persecuted community,’ targeted for genocide by Myanmar forces.

An 11-member team from the Committee on Muslim Communities and Minorities,  a subsidiary of the PUIC Standing Specialized Committee on Political Affairs and Foreign Relations, visited the camp. The team was led by Turkish lawmaker Orhan Atalay. He spoke with refugees as well as representatives from international relief organizations to obtain a better understanding of the situation.

The team also includes Mouhamed Khouraichi, Ali Asghar, Zahid Hassan Qureshi, Rezak Tavli, Mustafa Fatih Baydar, Nazmul Islam, and Ugandan lawmakers Bashir Lubega Ssempa and Sitnah Chemisto Cherotich, Iranian parliamentarians Abolfazi Amouei and Amir Abbas Ghassempour.

Bangladesh is currently hosting more than 1.2 million Rohingyawho have fled a brutal military crackdown in their home country of Myanmar’s Rakhine State on August 25, 2017.

The delegation met with several Rohingya community members, including women, to hear about their concerns, and they asked for better livelihood opportunities and education for their children, particularly in a third country.

After the tour, Atalay told Anadolu Agency said that these large numbers of Rohingya want to return to their native country with guarantees of rights, dignity and safety.

He added that the Muslim community as well as international leaders should now engage in more effective talks with Myanmar authorities to ensure their dignified and safe return.

These refugees have been experiencing a number of issues, he said, urging the international community to do more to support the traumatized Rohingya in these crammed camps.

First day of visit

Earlier, the delegation met with Johannes van der Klaauw, UNHCR Representative in Dhaka, at the Turkish embassy to discuss international humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya.

The UNHCR official stated that they are primarily focusing on humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya, while the political solution is in the hands of the relevant authorities.

She also said the majority of the Rohingya, with the exception of those who fled to Bangladesh following cycles of persecution in the 1980s, want to return to Myanmar with rights and dignity.

Later, the team met with the country’s National Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Choudhury, and discussed the Rohingya crisis.

Choudhury cited dignified return as the long-term solution to the Rohingya issue, saying: “Bangladesh is a small, overcrowded country. Because a large number of Rohingya is a major burden, international communities should engage more actively to ensure the peaceful repatriation of Rohingya.”

She also urged the delegation to prepare the Rohingya human rights report in such a way that it encourages the international community to find a sustainable solution to the issue, underlining the importance of justice for the crimes committed against Rohingya.

Atalay appealed that Muslim states must act together to protect the persecuted Rohingya people, who have experienced injustice and inhuman treatment in their own country.