Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohamed Asim has left for Malaysia to attend the extraordinary session of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the situation of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar, scheduled to take place in Malaysia on January 19, 2017.
The Maldives delegation to the session, led by Minister Asim, includes Mohamed Fahmy Hassan, Ambassador of the Maldives to Malaysia, Ibrahim Shaheeb, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ghaniya Abdul Ghafoor, Deputy Ambassador of the Maldives to Malaysia, and Moomina Ibrahim, Assistant Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The meeting will discuss genuine steps that the OIC and the international community should take to urge the Myanmar government to allow delivery of humanitarian assistance to Rakhine State, address the root causes of the violence, and widen the scope of dialogue among the groups to ensure the return of the displaced Rohingya population to their homes in safety and dignity, OIC said on its website.
Minister Asim is scheduled to deliver a statement at the council of Foreign Ministers, which will also discuss the situation of the more than 120,000 displaced and refugee Muslims within Myanmar.
The Maldives became a member of the OIC on 26 July 1976.