Nirmul Committee collects 10,000 Rohingya testimonies

Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee President Shahriar Kabir yesterday said they have collected 10,000 testimonies of Rohingya people. 

"Gradually, we are going to publish all these testimonies in our journal," he said, terming the persecuted Myanmar nationals "victims of genocide".

He was addressing an international conference held virtually. The committee, a pro-Liberation War platform, organised the conference on "Miseries of Rohingyas and refugees of other countries across the globe: Crisis of humanity".

He called upon the United Nations to take steps for a third country relocation of Rohingyas. The UN Human Rights Commission has already arranged this for Bhutanese refugees, he commented.

British human rights activist Julian Francis said historically, the international communities have neglected the situation with Rohingyas for decades. He said Muslims of Myanmar's Rakhine state were forced out even in the late 18th century. "So, the whole problem has been going on for a long time."

On legal aspect of the Rohingya crisis, Barrister Tureen Afroz, a former prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, said if Myanmar has committed genocide, there should be some sort of accountability.

Justice Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Kazi Mukul of Nirmul Committee, among others, addressed the conference. Representatives of different refugee communities and nationals of Syria, Palestine, and Rwanda, among others countries, took part.