Din Syamsuddin urges Organization of Islamic Cooperation to meet to save Rohingya

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, YOGYAKARTA -- An Islamic leader has urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to immediately convene a meeting to save Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar. Din Symsuddin, the former general chairman of Islamic Organization Muhammadiyah, said here on Monday that "Islamic countries, through the OIC, can take concrete steps (by convening a meeting) to immediately save the Rohingya Muslim people."

Speaking at the Muhammadiyah University, he stated that the Myanmar government must stop the killings and these could amount to genocide. "The Myanmar government must stop the killings. Moreover, security forces have been involved in these. We condemn the killings," he stressed.

Din also called on the Indonesian government to act through the ASEAN mechanism as Myanmar is one of the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. "For the sake of ASEAN stability and solidarity, the oppression being committed on the Rohingyas must be stopped," he noted.

Din urged the Indonesian Muslims not to consider it a religious issue. "The conflict there must not be brought here to maintain harmony in the country," he counseled. He even hoped that Indonesian people would help with logistical supplies to the Rohingya refugees in Aceh and North Sumatra. "We have actually sent aid but the Myanmar government has never allowed direct distribution of the aid to the Rohingyas and has requested that it be collected in Yangon. However, there are also Rohingya refugees in our country," he commented.