The influx of nearly one million Rohingya refugees from the northern portion of Myanmar’s Rakhine province due to severe persecution affected the political environment in Bangladesh. The impact was particularly acute in the south-eastern district of Cox`s Bazaar as well as to a lesser extent in adjoining Bandarban district and the nearby estuary areas.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina floated a five-point proposal at the United Nations to find a permanent solution to the Rohingya crisis.
Emphasising swift action to resolve the crisis in her speech at the 72nd UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, she called for immediate steps to end the 'cleansing' of the ethnic Rohingya minority. She was at the center stage at the UNGA this year, with the Rohingya crisis deepening along Bangladesh’s border with Myanmar, a crossing made by over 430,000 refugees fleeing violence in Rakhine State.
Hasina’s five-point proposal says: Myanmar must stop the violence and the practice of ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine State unconditionally, immediately and forever; the UN Secretary General should immediately send a fact-finding mission to Myanmar; all civilians, irrespective of religion and ethnicity, must be protected in Myanmar; for this, 'safe zones' could be created inside Myanmar under UN supervision; sustainable return of all forcibly displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh to their homes in Myanmar must be ensured; and the recommendations of the Kofi Annan Commission Report must be implemented immediately, unconditionally and entirely.
She said it was the 14th time she was addressing the UN General Assembly, but this time she came with a heavy heart just after seeing the “hungry, distressed and hopeless Rohingya”.
She proposed that the UN Secretary-General send a fact-finding mission to Myanmar where 'safe zones' can be built under the UN’s supervision for the protection of all civilians, irrespective of religion and ethnicity.
Before her speech at the UNGA general debate, she cleared Bangladesh’s stance over the protracted Rohingya crisis at several meetings at the UN Headquarters in New York. At the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) Contact Group meeting, she demanded Myanmar take back the refugees and end ‘state propaganda’ that labeled the ethnic group as ‘Bengalis’.
The manner in which the international community supports the Hasina government`s efforts to reverse the refugee influx, as well as its outcome and improvement in the management of the refugees, will determine the extent of the fallout on the country’s domestic political milieu. The actions taken by countries like India and China are of salience in this regard considering their capacity to contribute to the mitigation of the crisis to an extent.
No comments:
Post a Comment