He referred to the recent report on 'Independent inquiry into the involvement of the UN in Myanmar from 2010 to 2018' of Gert Rosenthal, the former Guatemalan Foreign Affairs Minister.
"There is no denying what has happened to the
Rohingyas. Although with the available resources and technology, lack of early
warning is rarely a problem, UN mechanisms in Myanmar could not provide early
warning," said Momen.
The problem was even bigger- not unsurprisingly though-
it was not lack of warning but of timely response, he said.
"Very recently, from Rosenthal report, we have come
to know in detail why and where UN failed".
Ambassador Masud was speaking at the Plenary debate
titled, "The responsibility to protect (R2P) and the prevention of
genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity: report of
the Secretary-General" in New York recently, said the Bangladesh Mission
on Saturday.
Quoting from Rosenthal's report, he said it must also be
said that the United Nations' collective membership, represented by the
Security Council, bears part of that responsibility, by not providing enough
support to the Secretariat when such backing was and continues to be essential.
"If there is one single action that might have
altered the course of events in Myanmar it would have been the timely and
impartial presence in Rakhine State of some type of United Nations observatory
that would offer a measure of confidence to the oppressed minorities that their
basic human rights would be respected, and that the root causes that led to
their forced emigration would be addressed by the national authorities".
Mentioning the generosity of the Government and People of
Bangladesh, the PR said the international community haplessly observed the
Rohingyas fleeing persecution and atrocity crimes.
These persecuted people were given shelter in Bangladesh
when these people had no place to go to, he said.
He urged the international community, in particular the
UN Security Council, to consider and come forward to support the pillars II
& III of the R2P which clearly stated about the accountability of such
barbaric acts and responsibility of the UN to protect against these kinds of
acts.
"We must not fail the Rohingya population. The
solution to this problem lies first and foremost with the Myanmar authorities,
and they will have to resolve it by creating the conditions conducive for the
Rohingya population to return home in safety," he said.
"The Responsibility to Protect and the prevention of
genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity" is one
the formal agenda of UNGA's 73rd session.
María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, the
President of the 73rd UNGA and Maria LuizaRibeiroViotti, Chef de Cabinet on
behalf of the Secretary-General spoke at the inauguration of the occasion.
More than 70 member state spoke at the debate.
Source: UNB, Dhaka