It is reported in the National Newspapers of Sri Lanka that the Prime Minister of Thailand,
General Prayut Chan-o-cha will undertake an official visit to Sri Lanka on 12 and 13 July 2018 at the invitation of President Maithripala Sirisena. This visit takes place against the backdrop of discussions during President Sirisena’s visit to Thailand in November 2015. Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha will arrive in Sri Lanka in the afternoon of 12 July.
As a devoted Muslim, it is my duty to understand and help brother Muslims anywhere in the world, to the best of my ability to relieve them from distress, hardships and oppression. I have just returned back from Bangladesh, after delivering much needed medicines to the needy Rohingya refugees camped in Cox's Bazaar, South coast of Bangladesh. What I saw on the ground at Cox's Bazaar is the dire situation of the Rohingya refugees who live in camps in Cox’s Bazaar.
“These 900,000 people are living in totally unacceptable conditions. “It is monsoon season now and there is mud and water everywhere. They have no clean drinking water and limited food and their shelters will not stand the wrath of the monsoon that has already started to settle. The world has turned its back on them.”
IT SEEMS THAT THE 21 MUSLIM MP's IN SRI LANKA HAVE ALSO TURNED YOUR BACKS ON THE ROHINGYA REFUGEES IN COX'S BAZAAR, BANGLADESH.
I was moved to find out more about the Rohingya refugee crisis in the fall of 2017. It is the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis. Visiting UN Secretary General when he visited Cox's Bazaar on July 3rd., 2018 said at a news conference that the refugees had to live under terrible conditions in the camps because of massive violations of their human rights in Myanmar.
“The more we dig into the story, the more we will feel compelled to do something to help these people". The Hamilton mobilization includes 6 mosques, the United Church of Canada, the City of Hamilton, the local communities of Hamilton and Dundas, and the Bangladeshi and Muslim community of Canada. The Canadian House of Commons support our endeavours politically and otherwise. We wanted to be their Voice in Canada for the Rohingya people.
Through our efforts we have been able to raise public awareness in Ontario about the plight of the Rohingya and funds were raised to get emergency medical relief to them. With a Bangladeshi Canadian colleague of mine and I just returned after delivering Cd.$'s: 50,000/= worth of Canadian emergency life-saving medicine Kits to the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society - Dhaka, field hospitals and clinics in Cox's Bazaar. These medicines were packed in 08 medicine kits comprising of 16 boxes weighing 400 lbs., which we carried as accompanied baggage. It was only enough to provide medical treatment for an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 children and adults.
“Malnutrition is rampant. The children are weak and vulnerable to sickness. They get diarrhea, stomach problems, malaria, flu and more. Drinking and clean water is very scarce. The health workers cannot do much without medicines. Canadians have been generous in this deed.
BUT WHY ARE THE MUSLIM MP's NOT GENEROUS IN USING THEIR JOINT/UNITED VOICE TO ASK JUSTICE TO THESE VULNERABLE ROHINGYA REFUGEES NOW CRAMPED UP IN COX'S BAZAAR, BANGLADESH?
The medicines we brought to our on-the-ground partner, the Red Crescent Society of Bangladesh - Dhaka, could fill some of the shelves in the pharmacy at the medical camps organized by BRDCS. “The field staff at the camp hospital really appreciated the donated medicines from Canada and expressed a desire for more.” Even though the Canadian Red Cross and the Doctors Without Borders denied from the beginning to dispatch these medicine kits through their logistic arrangements, when we offered these medicines to them, yet our determination to reach-out to the vulnerable Rohingya refugees, made it possible for us to find other official and approved channels to bring the medicines to Bangladesh. Medicines alone cannot solve the Rohingya crisis in the long-run.
WHAT IS NEEDED MORE IMMEDIATELY IS WORLD PUBLIC OPINION TO BRING REDRESS TO THESE PEOPLE DRIVEN FROM ARKAN/RAKHINE STATE OF MYANMAR, THE ATROCITIES AMOUNTING TO GENOCIDE. The 21 Muslim MP's along with the support of their Sinhalese and Tamil MP's can do this in Local Political Forums and the International Forums and diplomatic circles, unitedly.
Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), visited Bangladesh on June 30 to see the organization's works in Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar. The International Federation of Red Cross Society also has a country office in Cox's Bazaar. But the Red Cross and the IFRC cannot do much. They are fully bureaucratic and overloaded with staff and volunteers and managing a very large fleet of vehicles. Only a very few personnel are dedicated and, specially the field hospital and clinic personnel from the various National organizations working on the ground.
Saying that, I should not forget to credit the BDRCS staff who were engaged with us in making it all happen as wonderful people and fully dedicated to the cause. The chairman of BDRCS - Dhaka Mr. Hafiz Ahmed Muzumder and the Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh HE. Benoit Préfontaine
had an important message for us to carry, when we had the rare opportunity to meet with them. And that was, "bring public awareness to this issue so that a quick resolution can me found, otherwise it will be a continuing geo-political conflict in South East Asia for the future".
I THEREFORE WRITE THIS OPEN LETTER TO ALL THE 21 MUSLIM MP's IN THE SRI LANKA PARLIAMENT (PUTTING THEIR POLITICAL DIFFERENCES ASIDE) TO GET AN OFFICIAL APPOINTMENT THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SRI LANKA TO MEET WITH THE HON. PRIME MINISTER OF THAILAND GENERAL PRAYUT CHAN-O-CHA DURING HIS VISIT TO SRI LANKA THIS WEEK AND TO SEEK THAILAND'S INTERVENTION TO RESOLVE THE ROHINGYA CRISIS AT THE EARLIEST ALONG WITH ALL OTHER NATIONS WHO WANT AN END TO THIS SUFFERINGS, A PRAYER OF THE ROHINGYA REFUGEES SUFFERING IN COX'S BAZAAR, BANGLADESH.
Noor Nizam.
Convener - "The Muslim Voice".
July 10th., 2018.
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