The four-day Asian Religious Youth Leaders Summit in Davao City concluded Friday with strong calls for peace, justice and development, and the resolution of the conflict in Mindanao between government forces and Moro rebels.
Youth leaders said, "We, the religious youth leaders in Asia, strongly appeal to pursue the Mindanao peace process, with honor and dignity, and call for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Mindanao."
They also called for the return of all stakeholders to the negotiation table and to the path of peace, adding that the many years of painstaking efforts and progress between the government and various stakeholders should not been overlooked and abandoned.
They believe that the resumption of the peace negotiations between all parties at stake is imperative in truly attaining a just and lasting peace in Mindanao.
"We, bearing witness to the extreme conditions of the people of Mindanao, urge the government of the Philippines to intensify its efforts to care for the more than a half a million internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a humanitarian crisis looms in front of us."
They also urged the United Nations to review the situation and take relevant actions as the number of IDPs continues to grow and called on the security forces to respect international norms pertaining to existing evacuation centers and to allow free access to aid for the people in Mindanao.
"We, seeing the people in Mindanao, who are suffering as a result of the conflict and as a result of decades of neglect, call for justice for the marginalized Mindanao, which is lacking good education, jobs for youth, and are living in poverty. Without justice there can be no peace."
At least 90 Asian youth leaders from different faith-based and grassroots-based organizations in Asia made the statements during the four-day meeting at the Brokenshire Resort and Convention Center in Davao City on Thursday.
Participants to the summit came from New York - USA, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Australia, Nepal, and Philippines representing different faith traditions - Islam, Christians, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Shinto, Sikh, Zoroastrian and the indigenous.
They also vowed to find ways to be able to present the three documents during the forthcoming Asian Summit in Thailand on November this year.
Three historic documents were approved during the summit such as (1) Urgent Appeal for Mindanao (2) Statement of the Asian Youth Religious Leaders Summit and (3) Local, National, Asian and Global Action Plan.
The documents will be presented to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo by the participants in Manila this week.
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