Rohingya Muslims suffering: Pakistan to address crisis at OIC, UN

Islamabad to urge world nations to ask Myanmar’s neighbours to provide temporary shelter to fleeing people

KARACHI: The government decided on Tuesday to take up the issue of Myanmar’s increasing atrocities against Rohingya Muslims at the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) and the United Nations.

According to sources, Pakistan will urge the international community to appeal to Myanmar’s neighbours to provide temporary shelters to fleeing Muslims and for the setting up of special funds for their assistance.

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Islamabad, with the help of other Islamic countries and other nations of the world, will take all possible measures to end the violence against the suppressed community in Myanmar, they added.

Sources in the federal government said the country’s top leadership has taken serious notice of the growing violence against Rohingya Muslims as media reports suggest over 125,000 of them have fled across the border to Bangladesh in just 10 days.

According to sources, in the consultation session, the government decided to send requests to the UN Security Council and OIC to host an emergency session focusing on the miseries of the Rohingya.

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The United Nations, in line with its own laws, would put pressure on the Myanmar government to initiate strong action against elements involved in the barbaric acts, they added.

The government of Pakistan will also write to the secretaries general of the UN and the OIC, informing them in detail of the suffering in Myanmar.

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Sources said the government will start these efforts as soon as formal approval is granted by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Call for debate

Earlier, lawmakers from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) submitted separate adjournment motions to discuss the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar in parliament.

The PPP in its adjournment motion wanted to discuss the plight of Rohingya Muslims and the atrocities committed against them in the National Assembly.

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The lawmakers who submitted the motion on behalf of the party included Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Khursheed Shah, Nafisa Shah, Naveed Qamar, Nawab Muhammad Yousif Talpur, Shazia Marri, Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani, Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Imran Zafar Leghari, Beelam Hasnain and Shahida Rehmani.

The motion said, “The recent atrocities on the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, has highlighted a grave humanitarian issue.” It added that the United Nations has declared the Rohingyas as one of the most persecuted minorities and has also highlighted mass gang-rape, killings, brutal beatings, disappearances and other serious human rights violations by Myanmar’s security forces.

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Presently, the motion added, about thousands of Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh and some 20,000 are still stranded on the country’s border with Bangladesh. “The satellite images of the recent atrocities on Rohingyas are appalling and a disgrace to humanity,” said the motion.

Similarly, MQM’s Senator Mian Ateeq and JUI-F’s Hafiz Hamdullah have also submitted adjournment motions in Senate secretariat for detailed discussion in the upper house of Parliament.

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Meanwhile, the president has summoned sessions of both the houses of parliament on September 11 and it is also likely that a joint session will also be convened to discuss Donald Trump’s statement on Pakistan.

Petition filed against genocide in IHC

A petition has been filed in the Islamabad High Court asking the government to raise its voice on all civil and military platforms to stop the genocide of Rohingyas and to break diplomatic relations with Myanmar and withdraw the award of democracy given to Aung Sang Suu Kyi.

Petitioner Advocate Tariq Asad has approached IHC saying the international community, including Pope Francis, has raised voice against the genocide, but ‘unfortunately’ the Pakistani government is silent and has not taken any step to help the victims.

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He named the prime minister through its principal secretary, the federation through the interior secretary and the defence secretary as respondents.

The petitioner has also requested that the government should withdraw the Award of Democracy given to Aung Sang Suu Kyi for being silent on the genocide of Muslims in Burma.