PERMANENT SOLUTION
TO ROHINGYA CRISIS
 |
| Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina meets UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the United Nations in New York on Thursday. Photo: PID |
Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina has sought expeditious UN and global interventions to protect all
civilians in Myanmar's Rakhine State and take effective steps for a permanent
solution to the protracted Rohingya crisis.
Addressing the UN
General Assembly in New York on Thursday, she called upon the UN
secretary-general to immediately send a “fact-finding mission” to Rakhine.
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She suggested
several other steps to stop ethnic cleansing in Rakhine. “Firstly, Myanmar must
unconditionally stop the violence and the practice of ethnic cleansing in
Rakhine State immediately and forever.”
Hasina reiterated
Bangladesh's call to establish “safe zones” in Myanmar under UN supervision to
protect all civilians irrespective of religion and ethnicity and implement the
recommendations made by the Kofi Annan-led Rakhine advisory commission
unconditionally.
She said
“sustainable return” of all the forcibly displaced Myanmar Rohingyas to their
homes must be ensured so that they can return safely and securely and with
dignity.
**
The PM said it was
the 14th time she was addressing the UN General Assembly (UNGA), but this time
she came to New York with a heavy heart just after seeing the “hungry,
distressed and hopeless Rohingyas” in Cox's Bazar.
“Hundreds of
thousands of Rohingyas from Rakhine State are entering Bangladesh to flee
violence. As estimated by the International Organisation for Migration, over
430,000 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh in the last three weeks,” she told the
UN's annual meeting.
Forcibly displaced
people of Myanmar fled an “ethnic cleansing” in their own country where they
had been living for centuries, she added.
According to the PM,
Bangladesh was currently sheltering over 800,000 Rohingyas. The ongoing
atrocities and human rights violations in Rakhine once again aggravated the
situation at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, she said.
“We are horrified to
see that the Myanmar authorities are laying landmines along their stretch of
the border to prevent the Rohingyas from returning to their native land.”
Hasina condemned all
kinds of terrorism and violent extremism in Myanmar saying her government
maintained a “zero tolerance” policy for terrorism.
She thanked the UN
Security Council members and the UN secretary-general for their proactive
attempts to denounce the atrocities against Rohingyas and call for bringing
peace and stability in Rakhine.
“We don't want war.
We want peace... we want people's wellbeing, not destruction of humanity. We
want sustainable development. Let this be our collective goal.”
The PM recalled
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's very first speech at
the UNGA in 1974 in which he had expressed Bangalee nation's commitment to
peace and justice.
“I know that the
souls of our martyrs join us in pledging that the Bangalee nation fully commits
itself to the building of a world order in which the aspirations of all men for
peace and justice will be realised,” she quoted Bangabandhu as telling the
UNGA.
She stressed the
need for resuming the Middle East peace process and called for ending all forms
of hostilities and discriminations against the brotherly Palestinian people.
She said the UN had
a potential role in developing a peace-building architecture while Bangladesh
awaited “bold and innovative proposals” from the UN secretary-general on
financing for “sustaining peace”.
The PM renewed her
call to stop the supply of weapons to terrorists and terror financing and
settlement of all international disputes peacefully as terrorism and violent
extremism posed a major threat to peace, stability and development.
“Terrorists have no
religion, belief or race.... Having been a target of a number of terrorist
attacks, I personally empathise with the victims of terrorism and appreciate
their need for protection.”
She also called upon
the UN to address the growing threats emanated from the cyber space to prevent
money laundering, terror financing and other transnational organised crimes.
Hasina criticised
the use of religion to justify violent extremism saying families, women, youth,
media and religious leaders at the community level should be involved to offset
the spread of violent extremism.
She said as a major
troop and police-contributing country to the UN, Bangladesh underscores the
importance of upholding effectiveness and credibility of UN peacekeeping
operations.
“We shall maintain
our own capability and readiness, remain open to further pledges, enhance the
scope of our peacekeeping training, and deploy more female peacekeepers,” she
added.
She reaffirmed the
“zero tolerance” approach of her government towards any allegation of sexual
exploitation and abuse against any member of the peacekeeping force.
The premier
announced Bangladesh's token contribution of $100,000 for the UN Peace Building
Fund and contribution of another $100,000 to the Victim Support Fund set up for
the victims of sexual exploitation and abuse.
She highlighted her
government's position on different global issues, including safe migration,
refugee crisis, climate change, SDGs and socioeconomic development.
Recalling her
experience abroad, she said: “I can feel their [refugee] pain as I along with
my younger sister had been a refugee for six years after my father, Father of
the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and almost all members of my
family were assassinated in 1975.”
About climate
change, Hasina said the Paris Climate Agreement remains Bangladesh's bastion of
hope for climate justice. “By recognising the climate vulnerability, we are
building resilience against the grave impacts of climate change.”
Bangladesh believes
in the potentials of Green Economy in advancing the conservation and Blue
Economy for sustainable use of the ocean and seas, she added.
About the country's
socio-economic development, the PM said Bangladesh has achieved exemplary
success in building resilience against flood and other natural disasters.
“Crop
intensification and invention of water resistant crops have helped us achieve
self sufficiency in food. We have efficiently responded to the massive flood
that has stricken the entire south Asian region this year.”
She said as a member
of the High Level Panel on Water, she attached high priority to implement its
comprehensive action plan.
“Bangladesh has
ensured access to safe water for 87 percent of its population by 2015, and we
aim full coverage of our population by 2030,” the PM told the UNGA.
The Bangladesh
government was fully committed to implement the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) as those complement its vision to transform the country into a
middle-income one by 2021 and a developed one by 2041, she added.
Hasina said
Bangladesh's economy posted a GDP growth rate of over 7.24 percent in 2016-17
and its foreign currency reserve reached $32.1 billion.
The level of poverty
came down from 56.7 percent in 1991 to 23.2 percent today while the per capita
income was projected to rise to $1,602 by the end of the current fiscal year,
which was $543 in 2005-06 fiscal year, she said.
People's life
expectancy increased to almost 72 years, said the PM, adding that these figures
were indicative of Bangladesh's inclusive development.
“To ensure inclusive
growth, promote investment and employment opportunities for all, we have taken
an initiative to develop 100 special economic zones around the country,” she
said.
Mentioning that
youngsters of Bangladesh were the main movers in realising her government's
vision for a knowledge-based “Digital Bangladesh”, she said the country would
launch its first satellite -Bangabandhu Statellite-1 -- into the orbit in
December.
The government was
working towards creating an environment to allow the youths to pursue
transformative education, find decent jobs and turn into truly global citizens,
she said.
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Fires
continue at Rohingya villages in Myanmar: Amnesty