OIC chief in town on a 4-day visit

The Secretary General of OIC, Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, arrived here yesterday night on a four-day “working tour” of Bangladesh when he will visit Rohingya refugees, who escaped Rakhine state following persecution by Myanmar's security forces.

He is leading a five-member delegation on his first trip to Bangladesh since assuming office in November 2016.

Apart from his meeting with the President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister today, the Secretary General is also expected to visit Myanmar's Muslim minority Rohingya refugees in Kutupalong Camp and its surrounding areas in Cox's Bazar tomorrow to see their situation and to express OIC's sympathy and solidarity with them.

His visit to the Rakhine Muslims will give him an opportunity of being briefed by the local administration and representatives of the international humanitarian organisations working there.

Foreign Ministry sources said Dhaka will put the Rohingya issue on top of the agenda of discussion and urge the OIC chief to take effective diplomatic measures to permanently resolve the crisis.

Othaimeen is expected to exchange views on the situation of the Muslim world and programmes, initiatives and decisions taken by the OIC so far.

As Bangladesh is going to host the 45th OIC Council of Foreign Ministers next year, this visit will allow discussions on Bangladesh-OIC Secretariat cooperation along with ones on various other areas of bilateral cooperation.

Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, a Saudi former minister, has been the secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), since November 2016, when Iyad bin Amin Madani stepped down for health reasons.

Al-Othaimeen was the Minister of Social Affairs for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from 2007 to 2015.