Bangladesh plans to raise the Rohingya issue in the
upcoming 73rd UN General Assembly and urge the international community to unite
and mount more pressure on Myanmar to resolve the lingering crisis.
Diplomatic sources say it is time the international
community asked Myanmar to end all practices that led to the crisis and create
conditions for the safe return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas who have
fled the country since a military crackdown in August 2017.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave for New York on
September 21 to attend and deliver a speech in the UNGA session. She is
expected to place fresh proposals and Bangladesh's demand for early
repatriation of over one million forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals as well
as implementation of the Kofi Annan Commission's recommendations to resolve the
Rohingya crisis.
The opening of the 73rd session of UNGA will formally
begin on September 18.
The UK has intended to host a "high-level meeting of
ministers" at the upcoming UNGA.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Jeremy Hunt,
British secretary of state for foreign affairs, said the UK is to "take a
stand" and push for military leaders in Myanmar to be "brought to
justice" over claims of genocide.
Hunt told MPs that the perpetrators of appalling crimes
against the Rohingyas "must be brought to justice". He said he would
urge foreign ministers at the UN to refer the leadership to the International
Criminal Court.
The UK had a "special responsibility to act",
he said and confirmed he would launch a diplomatic effort on the matter later
this month.
“Ethnic cleansing in whatever shape or form, wherever it
happens, should never go unpunished and the perpetrators of these appalling
crimes must be brought to justice," Hunt said.
"There was gang rape, assaults on children, villages
razed, and, in northern Rakhine, mass extermination and mass deportations.
“This is the kind of issue where countries that believe
in civilised values have to take a stand and make sure that justice is
done."
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat on Wednesday
held a meeting with Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque where they discussed the
Rohingya issue with special focus on the upcoming UNGA.
As Bangladesh is trying to move the Rohingya issue in
UNGA, Dhaka expects that the US will go for a comprehensive action against
Myanmar military.
Apart from raising the issue in the UNGA session, Dhaka
would continue its efforts to put international pressure on Myanmar to ensure
secured repatriation of the Rohingya refugees, who have taken shelter in
Bangladesh, foreign ministry officials said.
The Rohingya issue might get prominence in the upcoming
UNGA with the latest report of the Independent International Fact-Finding
Mission on Myanmar that urged for investigation and prosecution of the top
military generals for genocide as well as for crimes against humanity and war
crimes in Rakhine State.
The Mission established by the UN Human Rights Council in
March 2017 has found patterns of gross human rights violation and abuse
committed in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states that “undoubtedly amount to the
gravest crimes under international law”, principally by Myanmar's military.
A fuller report, containing factual information and legal
analysis, will be published and presented to the Human Rights Council on
September 18. It will include a significant amount of satellite imagery
analysis.
The Fact-Finding Mission report said the UN Security
Council should ensure all perpetrators are held accountable, preferably by
referring Myanmar to the International Criminal Court or by creating an ad hoc
tribunal.
In the UNGA, foreign ministry officials said the EU would
continue to intensify its efforts to strengthen the respect for international
humanitarian law, as well as refugee law and international human rights law,
supporting full, prompt, impartial and effective investigations in case of
violation.
Source: The Daily Star