World must stand against atrocities on Rohingyas

Describing the atrocities carried out on Rohingyas in Rakhine as genocide, visiting three female Nobel Peace laureates yesterday said the perpetrators must be brought to justice.

Nobel laureates Tawakkol Karman of Yemen, Shirin Ebadi of Iran and Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland said the Myanmar government must be taken to task for committing genocide in Rakhine and the world must take a stance against such atrocities.

They made the comments when they met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Gono Bhaban.

PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting.

The Nobel laureates said it was a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing by the Myanmar government.

“The international community should do something in this regard,” Ihsanul quoted the Nobel laureates as saying.

They narrated the stories of some Rohingya refugees who have taken shelter in Cox's Bazar.

Expressing shock at the atrocities on the Rohingyas, they wondered how the world could remain silent.

The Nobel laureates thanked the PM and the people of Bangladesh for standing beside the forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens.

They called Hasina a “kind mother”.

The trio mentioned that Bangladesh needed more international assistance for the rehabilitation of Rohingyas.

The Nobel laureates said they met 100 women who were raped in Myanmar before fleeing to Bangladesh and most of the children lost their fathers.

It is much more than what the media said, and the international community should act against the atrocities, they said.

The prime minister narrated how the exodus of Rohingyas into Bangladesh had started in 1977. She said Bangladesh has given shelter to 10,78,000 Rohingyas on humanitarian grounds.

The country has already signed an agreement with Myanmar for repatriation of the Rohingyas, she added.

Hasina reiterated her call to the international community to put extra pressure on Myanmar to solve the crisis.

She also described how the influx of Rohingyas was affecting the local people and environment in Cox's Bazar.

PM's International Affairs Adviser Gowher Rizvi was present.