PM: Force Myanmar to implement Annan Commission recommendations

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday reiterated her call for the international community, including the United Nations, to keep up their pressure on Myanmar to properly implement the recommendations of the Kofi Annan Commission’s report on the situation in the Rakhine state. The prime minister made the call when meeting with UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka at her Jatiya Sangsad office in the evening. Prime Minister’s Additional Press Secretary Nazrul Islam briefed reporters after the meeting. According to Nazrul, Sheikh Hasina told the UN official that the large number of displaced Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh was increasing the pressure on food production, as a significant area of cultivable land is being used to provide them with accommodations. In addition, the Bangladesh premier defended her governments move to shift the Rohingya to Bhashan Char, an island in Noakhali, saying refugees could easily be turned towards militancy if they remained in overpopulated areas. About 100,000 of the refugees will be shifted to the island in the initial phase of the transfer, with housing construction in progress. Furthermore, the prime minister told the executive director of UN Women that women were being empowered and elected in all divisions of local government, with the leader of the House, speaker, deputy leader and leader of opposition posts all being held by women. In the recruitment of primary school teachers, 60% of the quota is reserved for women, Sheikh Hasina said, adding that the enrolment rate of students was now higher for girls than for boys in the country. In response to the Bangladesh prime minister, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said she will submit a report on the plight of the Rohingya to the UN Security Council committee concerned following her visit to the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar. She added that she was impressed with the empowerment of women and the government's measures in this regard under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Md Nojibur Rahman and PMO Acting Secretary Sajjadul Hassan were present at the meeting.