Dhaka: As part of continued ‘serious concerns’ regarding the situation of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar, member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will come together in Kuala Lumpur on January 19 to discuss possible actions on the pressing issue.

This is going to be an ‘extraordinary’ meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, a senior official told news agency UNB on Monday.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam is expected to represent Bangladesh at the meeting.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali will accompany Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her Switzerland visit at that time.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Switzerland from January 16-20, said another official at the Foreign Ministry.

Bangladesh will place its position before the extraordinary meeting on overall situation apart from the latest development on Rohingya issue.

Meanwhile, the OIC Groups in Geneva and Brussels held emergency meetings during the past several days to discuss the ongoing crisis facing the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar.

The meetings sought to identify possible actions that may be taken in the lead-up to the forthcoming extraordinary meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, according to officials at the OIC secretariat.

The meeting in Geneva was chaired by Ambassador Tahmina Janjua, Permanent Representative of Pakistan, in her capacity as OIC Geneva Group Coordinator on Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues, and in Brussels by Ambassador Vladimir Norov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Belgium, in his capacity as Chair of OIC Group, according to the OIC Headquarters.

In both the meetings, the Heads of OIC Permanent Missions in Geneva and Brussels briefed the meetings on the OIC’s latest efforts in responding to the Rohingya crisis.

During the course of discussions, members of the Groups exchanged their views on the latest developments, expressed their concerns over the continued violence against the Rohingya minority and expressed their unanimous apprehension at the attitude of the Myanmar government towards the situation in Rakhine state.

They reiterated the call for the restoration of the rights of the Rohingya community, including the fundamental rights to freely exercise their religion.

The Groups called for concrete actions to address the basic human rights and humanitarian issues of this long suffering minority and called upon the government to ensure that the displaced Rohingya population is allowed to return to their homes in safety and dignity.

The Geneva and Brussels meetings proposed further engagement with the international community, including the United Nations and the European Union in particular, in order to coordinate further action alleviate the plight of the Rohingya people.

Myanmar will, however, send a special envoy soon to see and evaluate the situation of Rohingya people.

Myanmar State Counsellor and leader of the National League for Democracy Aung San Suu Kyi will send the envoy.

“The special envoy will come here once we finalise meeting with our Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina). It’s very difficult to get her appointment before her Switzerland visit,” a diplomat told UNB.

Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka Myo Myint Than is in touch with Foreign Ministry officials here to fix the visit and engagements in Dhaka.

Dhaka says around 50,000 people have fled Myanmar and entered Bangladesh since October 9.

Earlier on December 29, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka Myo Myint Than and demanded early repatriation of all Myanmar nationals staying in the country.

Bangladesh also expressed its readiness to engage with Myanmar to discuss process and modalities of repatriation with Myanmar.

The European Parliament (EP) has asked the government of Myanmar to allow the UN and other outside observers to assist in investigating recent events in Rakhine State’s Maungdaw district.

The EP also urged the military and security forces to stop immediately the ‘killings, harassment and rapes’ of the Rohingya people, and the burning of their homes.

It made the call in a resolution on the situation of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar on December 15.