RIYADH: The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) is a major player when it comes to relief work in countries wrecked by human tragedies, Secretary-General Saleh Al-Wohaibi said on Tuesday.

He was addressing some 700 guests at the 13th annual iftar party sponsored by WAMY at the Riyadh Intercontinental Hotel on Tuesday. More than 100 diplomats, including 55 ambassadors, attended the ceremony.

He lamented that the region had gone through critical times resulting in genocide and massive displacement of people.

“The situation in Palestine, Somalia, Iraq, Syria,Yemen and Libya is so bad that even a baby’s hair would turn gray from worry over man’s inhumanity to man,” Al-Wohaibi said, pointing out that the crises amount to the worst human disaster since World War II.

“Under these circumstances, humanitarian organizations need to consider how best to respond to the situation and bring relief to all affected people,” he said.

WAMY has coordinated with various international organizations to bring relief to the victims by meeting their basic needs, he said, stressing that the need of the hour is to translate the concerns into action programs for the welfare of humanity at large.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the endemic problem, namely illegal immigration, which I have touched upon on previous occasions,” he said.

“The dream of many people for a peaceful and prosperous life has been shattered in their own countries. We understand the concerns of many European countries and other countries as well, but we believe that the only solution for illegal immigration is to deal with the root cause of the problems by helping people find jobs in their own countries,” he said, pointing out that “only by giving people hope for a better life can we prevent innocent souls from being lost at sea.”

The guest speakers at the event were Djibouti Ambassador Dhia Al-Deen Saeed Bamakhrema, Swiss Ambassador Heinrich Schellenberg and UNDP Resident Representative Dr. Ashok Nigam.

“In recent years, we have witnessed the rise of ideologies that fuel intolerance, hatred, extremism, sectarianism and violence. Such ideologies are a threat to humanity and human rights,and to the sense of decency and peaceful co-existence that is enhrined in the UN charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said Nigam. He pointed out that the rise of intolerance was not confined to countries in the throes of internal and external conflict.

“Democratic and peaceful societies have seen the spread of hate speech and violence by one cultural, ethnic or religious group against another,” he said.

Ambassador Schellenberg said that a country with diversity could stick together through inter-cultural dialogue.

“We must be prepared to accept other ethnic, religious, linguistic groups as they are,” he noted, adding that there must be frequent dialogue in order to understand others and learn tolerance for cultural differences.

Ambassador Bamakhrema described WAMY as a blessed organization in the Kingdom which provided humanitarian services to many people in many places.