Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has insisted on the member states of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to play a role in mitigating the plight of the Muslims across the world and to find the reason behind their eviction, repression and torture.
She on Thursday urged the OIC member states to resolve the problems and discontent over the issue through bilateral or regional dialogue.
Her remarks came during a high-level side meeting on the situation of Rohingya minority in Myanmar, organized by the Permanent Mission of Saudi Arabia and the OIC Secretariat at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York, US, reports UNB.
OIC Secretary General Dr Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen was present at the program.
“Over a year has passed by since the Rohingya Muslims from the Rakhine state of Myanmar started crossing the border into Bangladesh as victims of 'genocide' in their centuries-old homeland,” Hasina said.
"We can't just ignore the plight of the forcibly evicted Rohingyas in one of the largest displacements in human history. Currently, we're hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Bangladesh.”
She said the tragic fate of the Rohingya Muslims was nothing new, and their current exodus from Myanmar to Bangladesh was the biggest one as it had been in three phases – 1978, 1991-92 and 2017-18.
Mentioning that the repatriation of the Rohingyas to their homeland was not a sustainable solution, she underscored the need for collective responsibility and accountability to ensure the rights and privileges of the Rohingyas by Myanmar.
“It is the people of Bangladesh who are bearing the brunt of the Rohingya crisis time and again.”
The prime minister said that her government had stood by the Rohingyas by opening the border and providing emergency support on humanitarian grounds. “Our resolution to humanity should not be penalised. The prolonged presence of the Rohingyas in Bangladesh poses serious challenges to our economy, environment and security," she added.
She reiterated that Bangladesh had been engaged with Myanmar in finding a peaceful solution from the very beginning and signed two instruments for repatriation of the Rohingyas.
“Persistent international pressure can only complement the bilateral front to change the well-planned political position of Myanmar for annihilating an entire race," she said.
She also urged the Muslim Ummah to lead the campaign of mounting pressure on Myanmar for creating conducive environment for sustainable repatriation of the Rohingyas and ensuring accountability of the atrocities committed against them.
Hasina stressed the importance of the OIC member states' continuation to remain engaged in the UN system, including in the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council with other relevant international organizations to address the massive human rights violations against the Rohingya Muslims.
"Above all, we need to solve the issue at the earliest," she added.
Pointing towards the five-point action plan proposed by her in last September to resolve the Rohingya crisis peacefully, she said: "It's a matter of great regret that the repatriation process is yet to start."
She also thanked the OIC member states for taking concrete steps on the issue over the year.
"I would like to reiterate that the Rohingya crisis is a political one and is deeply rooted in Myanmar. Thus, its solution has to be found in Myanmar," the prime minister said.
