OIC keen to forge linkages with Myanmar

Syed Hamid Albar

BANGKOK 12 JANUARI 2016- THAILAND. Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) 'not interested' in the internal affairs of Myanmar but are keen to work closely with ASEAN to establish linkages with government ruled by the military.

Special Envoy of OIC's Rohingya, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said Myanmar through linkages with Asean is important because it will ensure that the OIC could address the humanitarian issues in the country. 'We (OIC) are not interested in their internal affairs. We just want to help them in their humanitarian aspects.' 'We hope to cooperate with Asean and Asean is expected to implement it with the Myanmar government, so they (Myanmar) can have connectivity with the OIC as the organization can help a lot,' he told Bernama today. Syed Hamid, who is a former Foreign Minister, said this after attending the opening ceremony of the International Symposium on Interfaith Dialogue and Peaceful Coexistence in a Multicultural Society, here. The symposium was inaugurated by the OIC Secretary General, Tan Sri Iyad Ameen Madani attended by Deputy Foreign Minister of Thailand, Virasakdi Futrakul and former secretary-general of ASEAN, Dr Surin Pitsuwan. According to Syed Hamid, the role of the OIC now to address the humanitarian crisis faced by the Rohingya community are limited to distributing the necessary assistance through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Humanities'. 'The others are not yet under the name of OIC but we are using NGOs such as the Humanities (to carry out humanitarian work),' said Syed Hamid, who is also president of the Humanities and added that nongovernmental organizations have successfully contributed their services in Myanmar. He said, Humanities and other NGOs have also been able to distribute aid to some of the country's refugee camps (IDPs) in Burma. Over the past few months, thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar left their country by boat heading to neighboring countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, due to discriminatory policies practiced by Yangon. Malaysia plays a key role in highlighting the problem of the Rohingya refugees and humanitarian issues raised in international forums. - Bernama

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