SEPANG, Oct 5 (Bernama) — With over 40 per cent of displaced people worldwide originating from Islamic countries, it is high time for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to establish a special division or department on refugees, said Malaysian former foreign minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar.
The Chairman of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) said the division is needed to better address the multi dimensional problems of refugees especially crucial issues such as their access to education as quite a large proportion of them are children.
“It should be better coordinated, should combine our resources or political commitment. There must be a political will to implement it and have a body that can coordinate and synchronise all these activities so that there is a standard operation procedure that can be followed.
“All these things will help us in getting better in managing refugees,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the 8th OIC-Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) International Seminar, here Wednesday.
Syed Hamid, who is also the Chairman of the Malaysian Advisory Group on Myanmar, said OIC has done a lot to help the refugees but there was still room for improvement, especially in terms of execution which requires coordinated efforts through regional and international bodies.
Meanwhile, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Malaysia, Thomas Albrecht said there are over 10 million school aged refugee children globally and 40 per cent of them have no access to education.
“We are in real danger of discarding the futures of millions of children,” he said adding that education is a durable solutions that gives them the tools to contribute to the host community and prevents them falling prey to exploitation and negative influence.
Without qualifications, Albrecht said refugees are less able to contribute to their home countries when they choose to return and were frequently ineligible for education or employment opportunities in third countries.
Another panelist, Dr Abdul Razak Ahmad, called for an international collaborative project on a global scale that brings together international organisations, states and business enterprises to educate refugees with the most relevant skills and competencies.
“A project that will deliver the knowledge and skills suitable enough to make them relevant in the job markets to reskill and upskill them so that no matter where they are, they have the necessary competency and expertise to make a living and be useful members of society,” said the Founding Director of Bait Al Amanah, an independent research institute.
He added, the global project to provide a multi faceted solution to refugee education and skill building should be the defining public works of this generation.
The 8th OIC-IPHRC International Seminar themed “Islamic Perspectives on the Protection of Refugees – Rights and Access to Education” was attended by approximately 200 participants including delegates and observers from over 40 countries.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency