(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called on the international community Saturday to resolve the Syrian refugees' crisis.
Acknowledging the positive position and efforts exerted by some European countries, the Organization calls on all its member-countries, as well as the international community as a whole to put aside their differences and mobilize all efforts to help the Syrian people and refugees, OIC's Secretary General Iyad Madani said in a statement.
"This is neither a Syrian, nor Middle Eastern, nor European nor Muslim crisis. This is an international humanitarian crisis, in which precious lives are perishing," said Madani.
Since the beginning of crisis, the OIC has been following, with deep concern, the escalating human tragedy of the Syrian refugees, fleeing their homes and seeking refuge in neighboring countries, he noted.
"Many OIC member-states, most notably Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt have been carrying the extreme burden of the refugee flow out of Syria, and they have all allocated huge amount of resources to host more than four million of them in their respective countries," Madani said.
He also affirmed the Organization's strive, in cooperation with the UN OCHA and other humanitarian partners, to help victims of the Syrian conflict, pointing out, however, that the speedy deterioration of the refugee crisis, in addition to a number of difficulties they face when attempting to enter another country require OIC and international partners to exert more efforts and work together in that regard.
"The world is witnessing a momentous period of instability and conflict that has produced what the United Nations describes as the largest pool of refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons since the ravages of World War II," he said.
"This is a clear result of the failure of the international community to resolve the Syrian as well as other political crises; and the inability of some of us to address the issues of poverty, marginalization, and hopelessness," the OIC chief added.
He also recalled the distressing picture of the little Syrian boy, Aylan, whose body was washed up on a Turkish beach, saying it leaves no word or a statement to remind the world of the great humanitarian tragedy which Aylan and hundreds of thousands of Syrian children, men, women, youth, and elderly have suffered and continue to suffer from.
"It is our humanity getting drowned in the Mediterranean. It is our humanitarian values, principles, and our human dignity, getting suffocated. We must put an immediate end to this tragedy," he said.
Thousands of Syrian refugees were forced to embark on extremely difficult journeys, chasing a hope to live safe and in dignity with their families and loved ones, Madani noted.
The OIC chief also indicate that those Syrian refugees who drowned in the Mediterranean, or suffocated in a human trafficker's truck in Austria, none of them are responsible for starting the Syrian crisis or for the failure to stop it.
"They are and continue to be the direct victims of both that crisis as well as the failure of the international community, particularly of the members of the UN Security Council, and the countries of the region, to find a solution to it. This must not, and cannot continue to be so," he said.
Madani expressed OIC's readiness to cooperate with the EU, its member-states, and other partners to facilitate the successful settlement, resettlement, and integration of the Syrian refugees in places where they can live in peace and dignity.
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