Dhaka summons Myanmar ambassador, protests at anti-Bangladesh remarks

The government of Bangladesh on Wednesday strongly protested Myanmar's recent 'anti-Bangladesh and racist' remarks by a Myanmar minister.

Dhaka said Myanmar's such remarks are "unacceptable" that hurt the sentiment of Muslims.

Myanmar ambassador in Dhaka Lwin Oo was summoned at the office of maritime affairs unit secretary at the ministry of foreign affairs M Khurshed Alam to lodge the protest, the agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying.

Prothom Alo's diplomatic correspondent reported that the ambassador Lwin was not served with tea during the meeting while it is customary to serve tea to the visitors in this kind of meeting.

Myanmar's religious affairs and culture minister Thura Aung Ko on Tuesday said Rohingyas living in Bangladesh are being "brainwashed" and Bangladesh is not allowing them to return, according to international media reports.

Myanmar refers to the Rohingyas as "Bengalis" apparently to suggest that they are from Bangladesh but Rohingyas say they are from Rakhine state of Myanmar.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has recently said there is compelling evidence that the Myanmar military committed ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Rohingya, the Muslim minority population of Myanmar.

The Museum came to the conclusion based on: a careful analysis in consultation with an advisory group of atrocity experts; its own on-the-ground, original research that resulted in a joint report in 2017 with Fortify Rights; and information recently released in the Department of State's documentation report and the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission.

"The Burmese [Myanmar] military's campaign against the Rohingya, especially the attacks of August 2017, have been deliberate, systematic, and widespread," said Lee Feinstein, a member of the Museum's governing Council and the Chairman of its Committee on Conscience, which advises the genocide prevention work of the Museum.

"For the sake of the remnant community of Rohingya still in Burma and those threatened with being returned, we hope this announcement prods action," Feinstein added.

For decades, the Myanmar government has persecuted the Rohingya, stripping them of citizenship and subjecting them to waves of mass violence, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Source: unb