[thunder_chunky]

(Reuters) - The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, a group of 57 member states, urged the Muslim community around the world to give political, humanitarian and financial aid to the victims of violence in northwest Myanmar.

"This is a large humanitarian crisis but unfortunately the international and Muslim communities are mostly unaware of the dimensions," Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told a news conference on Tuesday.

"In this holy month I call upon all the Muslims...to extend aid for this issue."

Longstanding tensions between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas boiled over in Myanmar's Rakhine state early last month, resulting in a series of arson and machete attacks in which the authorities say 77 people were killed and more than 100 wounded.

The violence has affected both Rohingyas and ethnic Rakhines, but rights groups have accused police and troops of disproportionate use of force and arrests of Rohingyas in the wake of the riots.

The riots followed two incidents in the same state: the gang rape and murder of a Rakhine woman - for which three Rohingya youths were sentenced to death - and the vigilante killing of 10 Muslims travelling on a bus less than a week later.

Nearly 5,000 homes have been torched and tens of thousands of people displaced. Myanmar's government regards the estimated 800,000 Rohingyas as illegal immigrants, though Rohingya activists say their lineage in the region dates back centuries.

"There is displacement where tens of thousands of people lost their homes. There is a great need to house them, feed them, help them medically...There is a need for political and humanitarian aid. There is also a need for financial aid," Ihsanoglu said.

The "political aid" would consist of diplomatic representations to the Myanmar government on behalf of the Rohingyas, he said.

"We asked member states, who have embassies in Myanmar, to call the government and ask them to improve their treatment of those people."

The OIC will hold a consultative meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 3 to determine possible ways to deliver aid to affected people in Myanmar and refugees from the violence who fled to neighbouring countries, Ihsanoglu said.

The OIC plans to discuss the issue further during its extraordinary summit in Mecca on Aug. 14-15

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/0...8IVI2Q20120731

[Florrick]

Brunei supports OIC's stance.

[jakemittle]

Nigeria also supports OIC's stance

[PierceBrosnan]

The Swiss Confederation also supports the OIC's stance.

[Kittythecat]

Argentina supports OIC's stance.

[eff01]

Georgia supports the OIC's stance.

[Wawasan]

Malaysia supports the IOC's stance and was actively seeking resolutions during the IOC summit in Kuala Lumpur. We hope further humanitarian aid can be provided, and will be active on this stance.

[spike_spiegel]

Pakistan also supports the OIC stance and would also like to encourage other aid agencies regardless of their religious affiliations to step in and help the Rohingya people. The neighbouring countries (Bangladesh) should provide more assistance to the affected people.
[ooc]This unfortunate crisis has more to do with the ethnicitiy of the Rohingya people than their religion[/ooc]

[B-Man.]

(Original post by spike_spiegel)
Pakistan also supports the OIC stance and would also like to encourage other aid agencies regardless of their religious affiliations to step in and help the Rohingya people. The neighbouring countries (Bangladesh) should provide more assistance to the affected people.

Bangladesh has never shied away from it's responsibilities as a Muslim nation and as a strong believer in non-refoulment; Bangladesh provided shelter, safety and welfare to 250,877 Myanmar refugees who fled their homes in 1991, along with other Muslim refugees from Palestine and Iran in the 1970s and 1980s and Somalia during the 1990s.

However, I cannot stress enough that Bangladesh is an already over-populated and impoverished country that cannot deal with the current influx of Rohingya refugees alone. We are doing all we can. The burden has to be shared by the international community. The existing international protection architecture for refugees that imposes disproportionately heavy burden on host countries needs to be altered, where many are developing states, including LDCs like Bangladesh. Therefore, Bangladesh calls upon the OIC and the UNHCR to initiate a new dialogue.

Pakistan has no right to lecture Bangladesh on it's responsibilities, when even with it's superior wealth, Pakistan has not provided the same level of assistance to Rohingya refugees as Bangladesh has. In fact Pakistan has failed Rohingya refugees as those who fled to Pakistan find themselves without basic amenities: a lack of gas supply, schools and sewage systems. This combined with Pak officials extorting the refugees for renewing identification cards and the thousands of Rohingya women who have fallen victim to the thriving slave trade in Pakistan have led to one such refugee declaring “Become martyrs there [Myanmar], but don’t ever make the mistake of coming to Pakistan.” Bangladesh calls upon neighbouring countries (Pakistan) to "provide more assistance to the affected people."

[spike_spiegel]

Pakistan has hosted refugees from Afghanistan (3 million current count), a neighbouring country, for more than 30 years, has taken in Kashmiri refugees who were expelled from Jammu & Kashmir in the past and has hosted refugees from as far a field as Bosnia. Bangladesh can at least provide some assistance to the Rohingya instead of turning them away at the border and wishing them godspeed leaving them at the mercy of the Burmese.
[ooc]Just so you know, I am Kashmiri and I do not have the baggage attached that some ethnic groups in Pakistan have. And, no I don't know what you mean by 'superior wealth'. Slave trade?! What on earth are you talking about?[/ooc]

Bangladesh orders charities to stop aid to Rohingyas
http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/sh...d.php?t=158552
Ramadan for the Rohingya
http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/sh...d.php?t=158056

[B-Man.]

(Original post by spike_spiegel)
Pakistan has hosted refugees from Afghanistan (3 million current count), a neighbouring country, for more than 30 years, has taken in Kashmiri refugees who were expelled from Jammu & Kashmir in the past and has hosted refugees from as far a field as Bosnia.

The Afghan refugees that Pak is planning a mass deportation of to a war-torn country? Anyway, my comments were about how Pak should do more for Rohingya refugees. At no point was I speaking of refugees generally.

(Original post by spike_spiegel)
Bangladesh can at least provide some assistance to the Rohingya instead of turning them away at the border and wishing them godspeed leaving them at the mercy of the Burmese.

As Bangladeshi PM stated in her interview with Aljazeera we have provided medical care, food and even money to the Rohingya travellers, before allowing them to go back to their homes.

(Original post by spike_spiegel)
[ooc]Just so you know, I am Kashmiri and I do not have the baggage attached that some ethnic groups in Pakistan have. And, no I don't know what you mean by 'superior wealth'. [/ooc]

Pakistan is a more affluent country than Bangladesh.

(Original post by spike_spiegel)
[ooc]Slave trade?! What on earth are you talking about?[/ooc]

http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/pakistan.htm

(Original post by spike_spiegel)

Spoiler:

Show

We understand why Pak may object to such a strong, independent Muslimah leader, after all you killed your only female leader.

(Original post by spike_spiegel)
Bangladesh orders charities to stop aid to Rohingyas
http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/sh...d.php?t=158552

This order only applies to illegal immigrants and not the 29,000 refugees Bangladesh is fully providing for. These charities only entice more illegal immigrants to travel illegally to Bangladesh. No country tolerates illegal immigrants and Bangladesh is no different.

(Original post by spike_spiegel)
Ramadan for the Rohingya
http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/sh...d.php?t=158056

Sensationalist journalism. If Pak is so concerned you could re-direct them to your nation and offer them 'refuge' there.