OIC agrees to help solve refugee problems

JAKARTA (JP): The Organization of Islamic Conferences (OIC) in their joint communique today are expected to affirm their commitment to tackle the growing problem of refugees in member countries and forge a new cooperation with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

The head of the UNHCR delegation to the OIC foreign ministers meeting being held in Jakarta told The Jakarta Post yesterday he had received positive responses on the need to address the problem.

Abdulmawla El-Solh said a three-page resolution had been drafted on new cooperation between the OIC and the UNHCR.

He explained that the aim of the resolution was "to find ways and means to alleviate the problem".

The communique was also expected to endorse a meeting between the governing body of the UNHCR and the OIC early in 1997.

"They realize the problem because its facing them directly," El-Solh replied when asked why OIC members were now increasingly aware of the problem.

He added that he also met with the new OIC secretary-general elect, Azeddine Laraki, to see how the OIC could proceed.

According to El-Solh, out of the over 27 million refugees and displaced people in the world, over 70 percent are from Moslem states or being hosted by Moslem countries.

There are still some 2.75 million Bosnia-Herzegovina refugees, while 3.9 million refugees are waiting for a political settlement before returning to Afghanistan.

The UNHCR has also been active in repatriating refugees of the Gulf War. It has engaged in a resettlement program for some 23,000 Iraqi refugees in Saudi Arabia.

"Because of the huge numbers now, it makes the OIC consider it a threat to stability and peace in the area," El-Solh said of the growing number of refugees in the Middle East.

While Islamic countries have been very generous in financially contributing to the solution of the refugee problem, El-Solh is now calling on OIC states to make multilateral contributions to the UNHCR.

Pointing out that since the end of the Cold War there have been more ethnic conflicts then before, he said the number of known refugees is currently one of the highest in history.

"We cannot solve the problem ourselves... It's not charity, it's a humanitarian approach," he remarked. (mds)