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JEDDAH: Persecution of the Rohingya minority of Myanmar represents one of the worst examples of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said after a fact-finding mission to Bangladesh.
Persecuted because of their race, religion and origin, the Rohingya minority of Myanmar continue to suffer severe and institutionalized human rights violations on a mass scale.
These comments were made at the end of a three-day fact-finding visit to Cox Bazar, Bangladesh, by the OIC-IPHRC.
In the absence of any positive response from the Myanmar authorities to repeated IPHRC requests to undertake a fact-finding visit to Rakhine State to ascertain the human rights situation on the ground, the IPHRC undertook a visit to Cox Bazar to meet Rohingya refugees and other stakeholders to get first-hand information on the situation faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar.
The IPHRC delegation squarely condemned the egregious human rights violations committed against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, and declared it deplorable racist behavior, where a minority is abjectly discriminated against on the basis of race, religion and origin in all spheres of life, including their socio-economic and political rights.
It called upon the government of Myanmar to take firm steps to immediately end the violence against the Rohingya, bring the perpetrators of violence to justice, and take concrete steps to address the root causes of discrimination against the Rohingya through a human rights-based approach.
The commission also called on the international community in general, and OIC member states in particular, to do all they can to urge Myanmar to fulfill its international human rights obligations toward its Rohingya minority in a concrete and time-bound manner.
It urged them to extend all humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya population both internally displaced in Myanmar and those living in refugee camps in neighboring countries.
The IPHRC delegation extended its sincere appreciation to the government of Bangladesh for the unfettered access and full logistical support provided to undertake its mandated task with objectivity and neutrality.
A detailed report of the IPHRC delegation’s findings with concrete recommendations will be presented to the 45th session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers for its consideration.