Muslim states urge UN force to help stem Syria tide

The United Nations should consider a peacekeeping force for war-ravaged Syria to help curb the surge of refugees which is destabilising the region and beyond, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said Sunday.

An emergency meeting of the 57-member group called on the UN Security Council to urgently consider creating "a multi-dimensional UN peacekeeping operation in Syria as a prelude to restoring security and stability in the country".

It also called for more to be done to find a rapid political solution to the Syrian conflict.

The OIC, which calls itself the collective voice of the Muslim world, blamed the humanitarian crisis on "the war crimes committed by the regime in Syria".

More than four million Syrians have fled their country where President Bashar al-Assad is battling various rebels including the Islamic State group which has carried out widespread atrocities.
The migration from Syria has created a crisis in Europe, where Germany alone is expected to receive 800,000 asylum-seekers from Syria and elsewhere this year.

"The meeting stressed the common responsibility of all nations, particularly OIC member states, to open their doors to the Syrian refugees as a mark of Islamic compassion and solidarity," a closing statement from the meeting said.

The OIC noted that more than half of its member states are not signatories to the UN Convention on Refugees, and urged them to sign.

No Gulf state has acceded to the convention which sets standards for the treatment and rights of those fleeing to a new country.

Gulf Arab states have been among the most ardent opponents of Assad, providing funds and weapons for rebel groups fighting him.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia and its neighbours last year joined a US-led military coalition bombing IS extremists in Syria.

The OIC further "urged all countries to refrain from extending military support to the Assad regime".

That call comes as Washington accuses Moscow of a military build-up in Syria, where Russia has backed Assad against the uprising of more than four years.

The OIC said Syria's neighbours who have taken refugees have borne "a huge portion" of the humanitarian burden and the international community should give them more support.
Source: AFP