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Ancient principles inform current laws, UNHCR chief tells gathering on Muslim refugeesASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, May 11 (UNHCR) - Citing parallels between Islamic teachings and current refugee law, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has urged member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to take long-standing principles of providing asylum and enshrine them in national legislation. The UN refugee chief was speaking at the start of a two-day conference organized jointly by the OIC and UNHCR. The conference, which is being hosted by the Government of Turkmenistan in the capital Ashgabat, is the first ministerial meeting to deal specifically with the issue of refugees in the Muslim world. "Islamic law and traditions embrace the principle of providing protection to those who seek asylum," Guterres told delegates representing the 57 OIC member states as well as non-members, NGOs and international organizations. "It also forbids the forced return of those asylum seekers. Both of these principles are cornerstones of international refugee law." He urged those OIC countries that have not already done so to accede to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. Pointing to conflicts affecting OIC member states in North Africa, the Middle East, the Horn of Africa and along the southern border of Sudan, the High Commissioner called on delegates to work together to address "the needs of those UNHCR was created to serve". In 2011, he said, 50 percent of those persons of concern to the UN refugee agency were hosted in OIC member states. That amounted to more than 17 million people, comprising refugees, asylum-seekers, returnees, internally displaced persons and the stateless. The conference, which was opened by the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, is aimed at highlighting the continued generous hospitality and assistance extended by OIC member states to refugees and asylum-seekers, many of who have been hosted in large numbers over a long period of time. By Tim Irwin
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