OIC calls for lasting solution to Rohingya crisis

DHAKA, Bangladesh – The grouping of Islamic countries has called for a permanent solution to the Rohingya crisis.

The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Hissein Brahim Taha, said Monday that the grouping supports the genocide case against the military junta in Myanmar.

The case was filed by the African Muslim state of Gambia in the world’s highest court.

“We call upon all OIC member states to join them in this case and give support to this fund created by OIC. This case is a top priority for us,” Taha told reporters while visiting to Rohingya refugee camps in the southern border district of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

He said the OIC is working diplomatically for the safe repatriation of the Rohingya to their homeland of Myanmar.

Rohingya community leaders called on the OIC to exert appropriate pressure on the Myanmar government to return their citizenship.

Currently, Bangladesh is hosting more than 1.2 million Rohingya in 33 overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar.

The OIC secretary-general also met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka.

She requested the OIC’s assistance in ensuring the safe and dignified repatriation of the Rohingya.

Earlier, Bangladesh regretted that the U.S. and Canada did not fulfill their promise to take in some Rohingya Muslims.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Kalam Abdul Momen said that Canada has so far taken in only nine Rohingya and the U.S. has so far taken in 26.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).