Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reiterated
her call to all Muslim countries to maintain pressure on Myanmar to take back
Rohingya Muslims safely from Bangladesh and provide support.
BD News24
The prime minister repeated the call at the inaugural
programme of the 45th Conference of Foreign Ministers, arranged by Organisation
of Islamic Cooperation or OIC.
Hasina has urged OIC to stand beside Rohingya people and
to ensure their rights and security immediately.
“The OIC must keep up pressure on Myanmar to take back
the Rohingya Muslims according to the repatriation agreement with Bangladesh.”
About 700,000 Muslim Rohingya refugees have fled to
Bangladesh since the military launched a crackdown in Myanmar's western Rakhine
state in response to insurgent attacks on security forces in August.
About 400,000 Rohingya people were staying in Bangladesh
before the army crackdown began.
Under pressure from the UN and other international
organisations, Myanmar agreed to sign an agreement with Bangladesh on last
December to repatriate hundreds of thousands Rohingyas. Myanmar has yet to
implement the agreement.
The persecuted refugees have described the suffering and
dangers they faced in Myanmar during the crackdown, which the UN defines as
‘ethnic cleansing’. Myanmar has continued to deny the charge.
Invoking the name of Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (SM) Hasina
told the OIC that, he had instructed the Muslims to stand for oppressed. For
this reason the OIC cannot remain silent over the human disaster, he said.
“We have opened our hearts and borders for these
persecuted people. We have granted asylum to 1,100,000 Rohingya Muslims.
Personally I feel deep sympathy for their miserable circumstances,” the prime
minister said.
Sheikh Hasina compared their suffering with her personal
experience of living abroad after the killing of her father Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman and many family members in 1975.
At least 5,000 delegations, including 40 Foreign
Ministers and Assistant Ministers, are joining the two-day-long OIC Conference
in Dhaka.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland attended the
inaugural programme with Sheikh Hasina as a special guest.
The programme is being held at an important time of
history, Hasina said.
She also urged the consideration of changes in the hearts
and minds of Muslims following the recent world-wide conflicts and extremism.
Stating Bangabandhu’s dictum of “friendship to all,
enmity towards none” she said, “We think all of the disagreements between
Muslims can be resolved through open-mind discussion.”
“Bloodshed only leads to worse situations.”
“The Islamic world must have a vision towards using our
resources properly and resolving all of our conflicts and disagreements
ourselves.”