All countries including Myanmar, be it a member or not, are bound to oblige with the judgement of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court (ICC) on Rohingyas issues, says State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam.
“The international community is building pressure on Myanmar. I want to assure you that Myanmar is not out of the jurisdiction of ICC and ICJ,” State Minister Alam said on Monday
The minister was speaking as the chief guest at a roundtable conference on Rohingya repatriation, jointly arranged by the Institute of Conflict, Law & Development Studies and Bengali language daily “Bhorer Kagoj” in Dhaka.
Shahriar said that whether Myanmar holds membership of ICC or ICJ or not if the judgment on Rohingya goes against the top 20 officials of Myanmar including Aung San Suu Kyi they would be arrested when visiting other countries.
More than 700,000 mainly-Muslim Rohingyas were forced to flee to Bangladesh after Myanmar launched brutal attacks on the ethnic minority in late August 2017. Nay Pyi Taw has been accused of carrying out severe human rights abuses during what it described as counterinsurgency operations.
The Gambia, on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, filed a case at the ICJ accusing Myanmar of genocide in its treatment of the Rohingyas.
The International Court of Justice settles disputes between nations, while the International Criminal Court seeks to convict individuals responsible for crimes. Both courts are based in The Hague.
Myanmar, which does not recognize the Rohingyas as citizens, insists that the Netherlands-based court has no jurisdiction over its actions.
Government officials, ex-diplomats, and media figures discussed different aspects of the Rohingya influx in Cox's Bazar and possible solutions to the crisis.
The minister spoke about the initial period of the crisis. "After the end of the first year of influx, we kept wondering if we would be able to keep the Rohingya issue alive at an international level. Many states have a conflicting stance about the Rohingyas," he said.
He noted the struggle of the locals of Ukhiya and surrounding upazilas of Cox's Bazar.
“Upazilas accommodating Rohingyas are receiving much better facilities on average, if you compare the available services in the all the areas of the district,” Shahriar was quoted by news agency UNB as saying.
He said the law enforcement agencies will be working at their full capacity to maintain law and order.
“The efficiency and expertise of law enforcement agencies working in Cox's Bazar have increased rapidly over the past five or six months. It will be improved further,” he added.
The minister noted that international leaders being vocal about the Rohingya issue is a significant advancement.
“You would not expect Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to strongly condemn the Myanmar government for its misdeeds in public, but that is what happened over the past few weeks,” he said.
Shahriar hoped that people of the country will support the foreign policy of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in dealing with such a sensitive issue like the Rohingya crisis.