The plight of Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar grabbed attention at the Islamic Solidarity Conference in Makkah on Aug. 14-15.

The conference, convened by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, condemned the policy of violence meted out by the government of Myanmar to the Rohingya, describing it incompatible with the principles of human rights and international laws. Voicing its condemnation in the strongest possible words, the Makkah summit called the atrocities being perpetrated against the Rohingya as crimes against humanity. The conclave of Muslim leaders urged the Yangon government to immediately halt the atrocities and ensure the legitimate rights of Muslims as citizens of the country. It also called upon the international community to shoulder its moral and legal responsibility toward the Rohingya.

There is no harsher language to condemn the oppression in Myanmar than what was used in the final communiqué issued at the end of the Makkah summit.

But the communiqué did not say anything about the mechanism under which the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) would follow up the issue. Like in many such cases, I hoped the OIC would set up a ministerial committee to follow up the issue with the Myanmar government and international organizations. The summit may have entrusted this task to the OIC secretariat.

It is heartening to note that the pan-Islamic body has taken initiatives to protect the Rohingya, especially after the violent incidents of June when thousands of innocent Muslim civilians were massacred and tens of thousands of others displaced, even though such initiatives may have been limited to contacts through letters and messages.

However, the situation calls for much more than a terse condemnation. The OIC secretary-general should have visited Yangon to convey the displeasure of Muslims all over the world at atrocities against fellow Muslims in Myanmar. The secretary-general must have also visited neighboring countries, such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia, that can wield direct or indirect influence on the Myanmar government. He could have held press conferences to draw attention to the plight of the Rohingya and ask the international media to highlight this humanitarian crisis, a move that might force the Myanmar regime to end its racist policies.

He could have asked the government to restore the legitimate rights of the Rohingya, especially their right to citizenship, which was usurped in spite of the fact that they had been living in the region for more than a millennium.

In a recent interview with Okaz newspaper, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu recalled the efforts being exerted and the pressures being mounted by his organization for the sake of the Rohingya Muslims. He specifically noted the message sent to Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when she made the controversial comments against the rights of minorities.

In the interview, Ihsanoglu said the international community gave the Islamic nation some hope with regard to tackling the issue. He mentioned that the organization had sent a delegation to Myanmar. The delegation was headed by Jusuf Kalla, former vice president of Indonesia and current president of Indonesian Red Cross, and included among its members Ambassador Atta El-Manann Bakhiet, OIC Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. The delegation held talks with President Thein Sein in Yangon during which he mentioned that he had sent an invitation to the OIC secretary-general to visit Myanmar to see for himself the situation on the ground. By not accepting the invitation to visit Myanmar, the secretary-general missed out not only the opportunity to make a first-hand investigation into the atrocities against the Muslims but also the media mileage out of such a high-profile visit.

The Human Rights Watch, in a recent report, slammed Myanmar’s security forces for crimes against the Rohingya, including murder, rape and mass detentions. The report said humanitarian groups were barred from providing relief aid to more than 100,000 Rohingya refugees who fled persecution and were living in a dismal state without food and shelter. It said the massacre and persecution continued with the knowledge and blessings of the Myanmar government despite its repeated pledges to halt the sectarian disturbances.

Quoting eye witnesses, HRW said there were instances in which security forces prevented people from extinguishing fire set Buddhist extremists on Muslim houses.

The New York-based rights group accused the international community of failing to take any action to prevent the aggression against the Rohingya Muslims.


— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdy is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com