OIC draws US$ 1.2m for Gambia to run Rohingya genocide case; Bangladesh largest contributor

An OIC fund-raising campaign for The Gambia to support its legal battle seeking redressal of Rohingya genocide in International Court of Justice (ICJ) so far drew US$1.2 million while the West African nation said it urgently needed $5million to pay the lawyers.

Officials at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the grouping of 57 countries having large Muslim populations, General Secretariat said Bangladesh appeared to be the largest contributor to the fund donating half a million dollar of the US$ 1.2 million.

They said Saudi Arabia disbursed US$ 300,000; Turkey, Nigeria and Malaysia each deposited US$100,000; while the remaining $100,000 came from Islamic Solidarity Fund, a special OIC fund.

The Gambia, on the other hand, said it immediately needed $5 million to pay a Washington-based law firm, which it engaged in the ICJ to fight the battle, Gambia's Justice Minister Dawda A Jallow told BSS's diplomatic correspondent Tanzim Anwar in an interview on the sidelines of an OIC foreign ministers conference (CFM) last week in Niger.

He added that The Gambia actually was under "intense pressure" over the payment issue from the international lawyers group prosecuting the case in the ICJ.

Jallow estimated that the eventual cost to run the legal battle was likely to be over $10 million until getting the final verdict at ICJ.

The CFM meeting witnessed both Gambia and Bangladesh making a strong plea to rally fellow OIC states' financial support for the case while the general secretariat of the grouping opened a special account to receive contributions.

OIC Secretary General Dr Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen told the CFM that Rohingyas were kicked out by their "own country" and "denied all human rights".