OIC wants speedy repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has expressed its concern over the 'grave human rights violations' primarily against the Rohingya Muslim community, as well as other Muslim groups in Myanmar.

The OIC called for urgent actions to defend the fundamental rights and freedoms of this community, confirmed their strong commitment to bring to a successful conclusion of the case filed by the Gambia before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Myanmar, and 'speedy repatriation' of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas to Myanmar, their homeland.

This was stated at the 'Istanbul Declaration' adopted by the 51st Session of OIC Council of Foreign Ministers under the theme: the OIC in a Transforming World this week.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Heads of Delegation of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) participated in the 51st session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), held in Istanbul, Türkiye.

The Ministers condemned destabilisation policies of Israel in the region and its recent attacks on Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, constituting flagrant violation of sovereignty and security of these countries and international law.

They called on the international community to take deterrent measures to stop this aggression and make Israel accountable for crimes committed; decided to establish an open ended Ministerial Contact group, which will be tasked with establishing regular contacts with the relevant regional and international parties, in order to support deescalation efforts, stop the aggression against Iran and to achieve a peaceful settlement.

The Ministers condemned firmly the aggression of Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran, stressed the urgent need to stop Israeli attacks and their great concern regarding this dangerous escalation, threatening human, economic and environmental situation in the region.

They expressed deep concern over growing Islamophobia, a form of racism and discrimination, condemned all acts of violence based on religion or belief, hate speech and extremism motivated by discrimination on the grounds of religion, as well as efforts fueling intercultural divisions and tensions.

The Ministers called on the international community to take effective measures to combat extremism, hate speech, defamation of religions, negative stereotyping and the stigmatization of people on the basis of religion, belief or ethnicity at the national and global level.

They welcomed the upcoming Islamic Summit Conference to be convened in Azerbaijan in 2026, noting that they look forward to its contribution to unity, solidarity, and cooperating within the Islamic world.