JEDDAH, 13 June 2005 — A delegation from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has just ended a visit to Thailand where it assessed the conditions of Muslims in the southern part of the country.
The delegation consisted of Dr. Oumar Jah, adviser to the secretary-general; Abdullah Kharbash, director of the department of Muslim communities and minorities in non-OIC member states; Taher Seif, director of the department of Muslim minorities and communities at the General Secretariat; and Ahmad Ibrahim of International Islamic News Agency
The delegation’s “goodwill and orientation” tour from June 2-13 was in response to an invitation from the Thai government. It followed the visit of a Thai mission headed by Nissai Vejjajiva, special envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to OIC, to Jeddah on March 5.
The OIC team concluded that the violence in Buddhist Thailand’s Muslim-majority south in which more than 700 people had been killed since January 2004, was not a religious conflict.
“The roots of the problem could be anything but religion,” said Sayed El-Masry, former OIC assistant secretary-general and international human rights expert who headed the delegation after a tour of the troubled provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
The Thais explained that the situation in the southern provinces had been marked by relative peace and religious harmony prior to the outbreak of violence in January. They also pointed out that there was no discrimination against Muslims, that Muslims were not being treated as a minority and that they enjoyed the same political and civil rights and freedom of religion as any Thai citizen under the constitution.
The OIC delegation held discussions with provincial Islamic committees and local religious community leaders and a number of non-governmental organizations. It also had meetings with government officials including Deputy Prime Minister Chitchai Wannasathit, Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon and Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Krit Garnjana-Goonchorn as well as the victims of the violence. It also met with Anand Panyarachun, chairman of the National Reconciliation Commission and former prime minister of Thailand.
The delegation welcomed the steps taken by the Thai government to provide compensation to the victims and affected families, especially financial and educational assistance as well as counseling, vocational training and Haj sponsorship.
