OIC must take immediate stance on Muslim killing in Myanmar: Iran MP

An Iranian lawmaker has urged Muslim nations to unite against the crackdown on Myanmarese Muslims, saying the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should announce its stance on this issue as soon as possible.

“The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and all international institutions should take a swift, serious and firm action to put an end to this genocide [in Myanmar],” Rouhollah Beigi said on Saturday.

The meaningful silence of the United Nations and other international bodies toward crimes committed by the extremist Buddhists has led to widespread massacre of oppressed [Rohingya] Muslims in Myanmar, he added.

The Iranian lawmaker emphasized that all Muslim nations across the world are duty-bound to defend Muslims in Myanmar, saying, “The catastrophe in Myanmar is not only an issue for the Muslim world, but an issue for all free and justice-seeking peoples of the world.”

Beigi stated that the silence of the so-called advocates of human rights toward the killing of Muslims in Myanmar shows they are actually powerless and take no practical steps [when human rights are at stake].

The government of Myanmar refuses to recognize Rohingyas, who it claims are not natives and classifies as illegal migrants, although the Rohingyas are said to be Muslim descendants of Persian, Turkish, Bengali, and Pathan origin, who migrated to Myanmar as early as the 8th century.

The UN says decades of discrimination have left the Rohingyas stateless, with Myanmar implementing restrictions on their movement and withholding land rights, education and public services.