Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has stressed on the international community’s responsibility towards establishing accountability and justice for the massive human rights violations perpetrated against Rohingyas in Myanmar.
Dr Momen had a meeting with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet Jeria in Geneva on Tuesday where he raised the issue.
He reiterated Bangladesh’s strong commitment to promoting the safe, dignified and voluntary return of the Rohingyas in a conducive environment in Myanmar.
Dr Momen conveyed Bangladesh’s readiness to work with Myanmar, UNHCR, OHCHR and other concerned parties to bring about a sustainable and durable solution.
Bangladesh continues to bear the burden of over 1.1 million Rohingyas as no repatriation took place over the last four years amid “lack of initiative” from the Myanmar side and “inadequate steps” by the international community.
Four years ago, Myanmar’s military launched a horrific “ethnic cleansing” against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State. The brutality of the military’s atrocities on that day shocked the conscience of the international community.
The last exodus began on 25 August 2017, when violence broke out in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, forcing thousands of Rohingyas to seek shelter in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh had handed over a list of 840,000 Rohingyas to Myanmar for verification but the verification process by the Myanmar side was very slow, Dhaka says.
Repatriation attempt failed twice in November 2018 and August 2019 amid Rohingyas’ lack of trust in the Myanmar government.
Bangladesh and Myanmar signed the repatriation deal on November 23, 2017. On January 16, 2018, Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a document on ‘Physical Arrangement’, which was supposed to facilitate the return of Rohingyas to their homeland.
