Bangladesh has requested the international community to find out a permanent solution of the Rohingya crisis in a peaceful way within the mechanisms available with the United Nations.
The request was made when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres along with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim visited Dhaka this week.
“We gave five-point expectations of Bangladesh that include exploring a solution utilising any mechanism available in the international system,” said an official of the foreign ministry.
They have also sent the UN delegation the message that ‘Dhaka should not be penalised’ for the humanitarian gesture it showed to the Rohingyas, he added.
The UN chief has taken a strong stance on the Rohingya issue and Dhaka hopes that he would do whatever possible in his capacity, he added.
Guterres, the secretary general of UN in which Myanmar is also a member, condemned in fullest term the atrocities in Myanmar and urged the international community to put strong pressure on Nay Pyi Taw to take the Rohingyas back with full dignity and citizenship rights.
Terming the Rohingyas as an ‘extremely discriminated community’, Guterres said they experienced mass killings, gang rape and arson in Rakhine and the perpetrators should be brought to justice along with a political solution to the crisis.
Another foreign ministry official said, “We sought intervention from the international community so that who committed those crimes and violated human rights should face a trial,” he said.
Rohingyas are subject to repression and human rights violations for decades and only accountability ensures the end of this horrific cycle, he added.
Challenges
During the UN chief visit, Dhaka also highlighted the various challenges and obstacles created by Myanmar for the repatriation of Rohingyas.
An official of the foreign ministry said, “Myanmar agreed that it would create a conducive environment for their return, but no visible progress is yet to be seen.”
As a matter of fact, Myanmar authorities are delaying the process giving excuse to procedural discrepancies, he said.
“Not only that, Myanmar is also running a state-sponsored propaganda campaign against Bangladesh and continued military provocation.”
He said, Nay Pyi Taw still term the Rohingyas as ‘Bengali terrorist’ or ‘illegal immigrants from Bangladesh’.
As many as 1.1 million Rohingyas, who fled a security crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine since last August, reported villages burnt to the ground, killings and rapes. Ten months on, the Rohingyas – a Muslim minority denied citizenship and basic rights in their native Myanmar – are still out of their homes.