KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation will meet to discuss the Rohingya Muslim crisis next week in Kuala Lumpur, a Malaysian official told AFP Wednesday, as thousands continue to flee Myanmar.
Fifty-six OIC representatives are expected to attend the
January 19 meeting which will be led by Prime Minister Najib Razak, who
recently called on Myanmar to stop the “genocide” of Rohingya Muslims.
Buddhist-majority Myanmar refuses to recognise the Rohingya
as one of the country’s ethnic minorities, instead describing them as Bengalis
— or illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh — even though many have
lived in Myanmar for generations.
There has been a large exodus of Rohingya from northern
Myanmar’s Rakhine state after the army launched clearance operations while
searching for insurgents behind deadly raids on police border posts three
months ago.
Escapees from the persecuted Muslim minority in Bangladesh
have given harrowing accounts of security forces committing mass rape, murder
and arson.
The stories have cast a pall over the young government of
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, with Muslim-majority Malaysia being especially
critical.
Myanmar’s government has said the claims of abuse are
fabricated and launched a special commission to investigate the allegations.