OIC fact-finding mission leaves for Myanmar

A fact-finding mission from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) travelled to Myanmar yesterday to investigate the recent violence against Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine region and the repression and human rights violations.
The mission will visit the capital Naypyidaw to meet government officials and from there it will proceed to villages in Rakhine (formerly Arakan) affected by the violence including Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Sittwe.
The fact-finding mission will also pave the ground for a visit of OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, which is likely to take place very soon.
The mission is expected to prepare a report on its findings, which will be presented to the Contact Group on Myanmar that will meet in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at the end of this month.
The decision to send a fact-finding mission and form a Contact Group at the ministerial level was made at the extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee held on August 5th at OIC Headquarters in Jeddah, which was later adopted by the Islamic Solidarity Summit in Makkah, which was held on Aug. 14-15.