The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday at its headquarters in Jeddah to discuss ways to address the Syrian refugee crisis.
The OIC General Secretariat has invited all the member states to attend the open meeting of its executive committee. The committee comprises the Islamic Summit and the Council of Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Senegal, Turkey, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.
According to the agenda, the meeting falls within the framework of the 10-Year Program of Action and is in line with various United Nations and OIC resolutions on the situation in Syria.
OIC Secretary-General Iyad Madani earlier this week called on the international community to put aside all differences and help uphold the dignity and human rights of the refugees.
In his appeal, Madani said: “The Syrian refugees who drowned in the Mediterranean and those who suffocated in the trucks of human traffickers in Austria are not responsible for starting the Syrian crisis or for the failure to stop it.
“Yet, they are and continue to be the direct victims of both that crisis and the failure to find a solution to it by the international community, particularly members of the UN Security Council, and the countries of the region. This must not, and cannot continue to be so.”
The OIC has stated that it has been following with deep concern the escalating humanitarian crisis faced by Syrians who have been fleeing their homes in search of asylum in neighboring countries.
Many member states of the OIC, in particular Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt are shouldering most of the burden in terms of accommodating the refugees. They have all allocated massive resources to shelter over 4 million refugees on their respective territories.
The OIC is striving, together with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and with other humanitarian partners, to extend a helping hand to the victims of the Syrian conflict.
