Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sought the support of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states to launch the Rohingya case at the International Court of Justice—with funding and technical help—to ensure the legal rights of Rohingyas and address the question of accountability and justice.
Mentioning that the Abu Dhabi Conference of Foreign Ministers (CFM) held in March created a pathway to move the International Court of Justice she said: "We thank Gambia for steering the process this far. We are appealing to the member states to support launching the case with voluntary funding and technical help."
The prime minister was speaking on behalf of the Asia Group at the 14th OIC Makkah Al Mukarramah Summit titled "Hand in Hand Towards the Future" at Safa Palace on Saturday, reports UNB.
Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has sheltered more than 1.1 million forcibly displaced Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar despite resource constraints.
"But their dignified return is still uncertain – as Myanmar consistently fails to honour its promises to create a conducive environment for return to Northern Rakhine," she said.
Mentioning that poverty still remains the biggest challenge, the premier said it is both a cause and a consequence of ignorance, disasters, and eroding human values.
She stressed the need to implement the "OIC-2025: Programme of Action" through joint Islamic action to address this anomaly.
The prime ministers also urged the OIC to devise a comprehensive strategy to meet the adverse changes in the strategic spaces in a world facing the challenges of economy, ecology, and security.
"In a world faced with challenges of economy, ecology, and security, the OIC has to devise a comprehensive strategy to meet adverse changes in the strategic spaces in which each of us operates as states," she said.
"We have more than a third of the world's strategic resources and the majority of its youth. We, ourselves, should able to solve our own problems," she continued.
Sheikh Hasina urged all to pursue a course of zero tolerance for terror, prevent territories be used by any individual or group for launching a terror or extremist agenda, and fight it together.
To this end, she recalled her four-point formula for the Muslim world—announced at the Riyadh conference—which were: stop the supply of arms, stop the flows of terrorist financing, remove divisions within the Muslim Ummah, and pursue the peaceful settlement of conflicts through dialogue.
The premier said it is heartening to see the OIC is taking a much-needed path of reform and renovation to adapt to the twenty-first century.
"While we change and adapt, we must aim for the values of Islam —fraternity, equality, and justice—as demonstrated by Rasul-E-Kareem (SA)," she said.
She said Islam—which came as a harbinger of light to a dark world—is now misconstrued with the ideology of extremism and violence because of its misinterpretations.
Regarding the recent terror attacks in New Zealand and Sri Lanka, she extended sympathies and solidarity to the bereaved families of the Christchurch attacks. She also condemned the terror attacks in Sri Lanka— which killed one of her grandchildren—eight-year-old Sheikh Zayan.
"We share the pain and agony of helpless peoples of Palestine, Syria, and elsewhere getting mercilessly murdered every day. Let this summit set the course—under your Majesty's stewardship—to turn the tide. Let there be a beginning of an end to the Muslim indignity and misery," she said.
Mentioning that OIC was conceived to get back the land and sovereign rights of its Palestinian brothers and sisters, safeguard dignity and rights, and strengthen solidarity and cooperation amongst peoples of the Muslim world, Sheikh Hasina said: "Seven decades on, the Palestine question still persists, and our nations and communities still stand divided.
"We should make the best use of OIC institutions—like the Islamic Development Bank—by synchronizing their policies and practices with OIC agenda under the program."
Saying that the Islamic world today needs to incubate ideas and innovation into marketable products and services, she invited all to participate in turning the Islamic University of Technology (IUT)—which Bangladesh is hosting—into a centre of excellence.
She sought OIC members countries' support for Bangladesh candidate—an expert in migration studies and action—Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque for the post of deputy director general of International Organization for Migration.
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud hosted the conference of the OIC, comprising 57 member states, to develop a unified stance of Muslim leaders on rising tensions in the Gulf.
The OIC first met a month after an arson attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on August 21, 1969.