Neighbours have a greater obligation to the Refugee Crisis, says Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in New Zealand
The National President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in New Zealand has called on the neighbouring Arab countries,
such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Iran to take responsibility and provide refuge for migrants rather than
relying on Europe to solve the crisis.
“It is a fundamental Islamic principle to help your neighbours in need and it is a sad state of affairs to see that
these very countries are shirking from their responsibilities in helping those who have been forced to leave their
countries due to intolerable conditions and so should be treated with love, compassion and kindness”, said Mr. Mohammed
Iqbal.
The local Ahmadiyya Community is also calling upon the New Zealand Government to reconsider their position and to at
least allow proportionally equal number of Syrian refugees into New Zealand to what Australia is providing for. The
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and we are confident that other Muslim Organisations and NGO’s in New Zealand are more than
prepared to help in the resettlement of these poor souls.
“Whilst we do need to ensure that proper measures are in place to ensure extremists do not pose as refugee, there are
hundreds of thousands of genuine refugees who need our help today and the entire world will have to show compassion and
open hearts and their homes for this crisis to be handled. As a member of the UN Security Council, New Zealand has to
step up their effort.” said Mr. Mohammed.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim community is calling upon international organisations such as the UN and Governments to treat this
as a global issue and not just as a European issue, saying that a proper co-ordinated plan is urgently needed to
distribute the refugees globally, rather than only focusing on Europe.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a dynamic, fast-growing international revival movement within Islam. Founded in 1889
by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) in Punjab, India, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community spans over 206 countries with
membership exceeding tens of millions. The New Zealand branch of this community was established in 1987 and has just
over 450 members. It is a registered charitable organisation and endeavours to be an active and integrated community
within New Zealand society.
ENDS