Jatiya Sangsad on Monday night unanimously adopted a resolution urging the international community, including the United Nations, to mount strong diplomatic pressure on Myanmar government to take back Rohingya people, ensure their safe accommodation and give citizenship rights.
Treasury bench member Dipu Moni, a former foreign minister, placed the resolution in the House in the evening and it was adopted by voice votes around 10:00pm.
The parliament passed the resolution in the wake of fresh massive influx of Rohingya people into Bangladesh fleeing ethnic cleansing in Myanmar since August 25.
Taking floor, prime minister Sheikh Hasina said,
‘This problem was created by Myanmar and they have to solve the problem; this is the reality.’
‘If they need any type of assistance, we can help them as a neighbour,’ she said.
‘Let me say it clearly that they [Rohingya refugees] are the citizens of Myanmar; those who are taking shelter in Bangladesh has to be taken back by Myanmar,’ the prime minister said.
She said that she had no word to condemn the atrocities committed by the Myanmar law-enforcing agencies. ‘It is not acceptable at all to oppress children and women in the name of containing insurgency.’
Hasina said that the Kofi Annan report had to be implemented to solve the problem. ‘They [Myanmar government] allowed the Kofi Annan Commission to enter and work in their country. Then why won’t they accept the recommendations of the commission? If they have any objection, then there can be discussion to solve that,’ she added.
The prime minister reiterated that Bangladesh has given shelter to the Myanmar nationals on the humanitarian ground. ‘We did not do it considering whether they are Muslims or Hindus, we just considered them as human being,’ she said.
She cautioned against trying to make political or financial gains from the Rohingya crisis.
About identification of Rohingya people, the prime Minister said that every refugee must be enlisted with their photograph, name and address.
Hasina said that she would attend the UN general assembly on September 16 and surely place the Rohingya issue in the world forum. ‘Their safe accommodation must be ensured within Myanmar and the rights of citizenship should be given,’ Hasina told the House.
‘They once had the voting rights. But why was their rights suddenly scrapped? We cannot provide shelter to them for long. Myanmar must take back their citizens,’ she said.
Stressing the need for Muslim unity, the premier said that Muslims across the globe were being repressed. ‘If the Muslim Ummah had unity, they would not have faced the repression,’ she said.
The lawmakers slammed the Myanmar government for committing genocide against Rohingyas in the Rakhine state.
Speaking on the resolution, the lawmakers urged the international community to exert strong diplomatic pressure on Myanmar to immediately stop the atrocities on Rohingyas.
Terming the ongoing brutality as genocide, MPs also urged the international community to file a complaint against the Myanmar government in the international criminal court for carrying out ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine state.
They also urged the Myanmar government to provide a safe zone for Rohingyas within Myanmar under the supervision of the United Nations.
The lawmakers bitterly criticised the role of Nobel peace laureate and Myanmar’s state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and lauded Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina for providing shelter to Rohingyas on humanitarian grounds. The MPs called for awarding Nobel prize to Sheikh Hasina for her generosity towards Rohingyas fleeing ethnic cleansing.
The resolution said, ‘The United Nations and the world community should be urged to exert strong diplomatic pressure on the Myanmar government for stopping continuous repression on the religious and minority community — Rohingya people — in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, refraining Myanmar government from pushing Rohingyas into Bangladesh by ousting them from their homeland, ensuring their safe accommodation by taking them back to Myanmar with rights of citizenship.’
It also said that the Rohingya people are historically Myanmar nationals. ‘They have been living for more than 500 years in the Arakan state [now Rakhine state]… Some 16 Muslim emperors ruled Arakan empires in between 1404 and 1612,’ the resolution said.
Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Abdul Matin Khasru, Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir, Dipu Moni, Rashed Khan Menon, Mayeenuddin Khan Badal, Hasan Mahmud, Abdul Wahab and Shirin Akhter, among others, spoke on the issue.
Source: New Age
