Establish secretariat to help Rohingya in health, education programmes - Abdul Hadi

The World Union of Muslim Scholars today urged Islamic countries to establish a secretariat for coordinating health and education development programmes for Muslim minorities, particularly in assisting the Rohingya community in Myanmar.

It Vice President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said the secretariat can be chaired by Kuala Lumpur and be under the auspices of the Malaysian government at the time of its inception.

"Development programmes in education and health are very important because many in the Rohingya ethnic group, especially children do not get perfect education and health care.

"With an increasingly complex international environment, we hope this effort will bear results and thus can alleviate the suffering of the Rohingya," he said when opening the International Conference on Rohingya, here on Wednesday.

The text of his speech was read out by Assistant Secretary-General of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Abdul Ghaffar Aziz.

On another note, Abdul Hadi also urged the government of Myanmar to stop violence against the Rohingya and allow them to live like other ethnic groups in that country.

The three-day conference is jointly organised by the World Union of Muslim Scholars, Public Security Institute Malaysia (IPSOM), International Federation for Relief and Development (FRD) and Yayasan Amal Malaysia.

Themed "The Plight of the Rohingya: Searching for Solutions", the conference aims to understand the history of the Rohingya, identify problems and solutions. - BERNAMA