We support the prime minister's call to the members of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) to move beyond the rhetoric and act as a body to save lives in the Rakhine state of Myanmar. The systematic ethnic cleansing that is taking place in that country and the pouring in of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas into Bangladesh are the result of the international community's complete lack of empathy for the world's most persecuted minority over the past four decades.   

Bangladesh has been doing its best to accommodate these displaced people, and the OIC must do more to bring its weight to bear on the government of Myanmar to stop repressing the Rohingyas and accord them the status that history has accorded them. It is imperative that the OIC work with the international community in not just condemning the atrocities happening in Myanmar but also take steps to bring an end to the crisis, which has wide security ramifications for the entire region. 

While OIC leaders have urged the Myanmar government to respect human rights, it is imperative that OIC members step up humanitarian assistance to the government of Bangladesh to help the Rohingyas. It cannot be our burden alone and in that we fully endorse the line taken by the prime minister. The longer this refugee crisis lingers, the greater the possibility of radicalisation of some members of this uprooted and displaced community. It is time for the OIC fraternity to come together and speak in one voice to help end the policy of forced displacement of Rohingyas.