Rohingya Issue: Dhaka reminds int’l community of their duities

Foreign Minister 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.

The minister raised the issue at a meeting with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet Jeria in Geneva on Tuesday.

He reiterated Bangladesh's strong commitment to promoting safe, dignified and voluntary return of Rohingyas to Myanmar in a conducive environment.

Momen conveyed Bangladesh's readiness to work with Myanmar, UNHCR, OHCHR and other parties concerned 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 carried out a horrific "ethnic cleansing" against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State. The brutality of the military's atrocities shocked the conscience of the international community.

The last exodus of Rohingyas began on August 25, 2017 when violence broke out in Rakhine, 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 attempts failed twice in November 2018 and August 2019 amid Rohingyas' lack of trust in the Myanmar government.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation deal on November 23, 2017. On January 16 the following year, the two countries inked a document on "Physical Arrangement", which was supposed to facilitate the return of Rohingyas to their homeland.