Momen for holding Myanmar accountable to check recurrence of Rohingya crisis

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen emphasized on ensuring accountability of the perpetrators those committed atrocities in Rakhine to check repetition of the Rohingya crisis.

“If we do not want to see a recurrence of the Rohingya crisis, we should hold the perpetrators accountable,” he said while addressing the Preparatory Ministerial Meeting ahead of the 18th Summit of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Baku, Azerbaijan today, according to a message received here.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave Dhaka for Baku tomorrow to attend the two-day 18th Summit of the NAM, a forum of 120 developing countries, to be held on October 25-26.

The Foreign Ministers and representatives of the NAM member states have joined the two-day long preparatory meeting, starting from today to make the 18th NAM summit successful.

At the ministerial meeting, Momen expressed dissatisfaction on Myanmar’s role in the process of solving the Rohingya crisis.

Despite giving commitments to ensure conducive environment in Northern Rakhine State and to take back the Rohingyas, Myanmar has not taken back any of the Rohingyas till date, he said.

Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar district and most of them arrived there since August 25, 2017 after a military crackdown by Myanmar, which the UN called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” by other rights groups.

Momen urged the international community, particularly the ASEAN neighbors of Myanmar to remain engaged with Myanmar to reach a solution of this crisis.

However, the foreign minister expressed hope to solve the crisis through dialogue and discussions.

Stated that Bangladesh has been a strong believer in the goals of the NAM Movement, momen said “Recognizing the importance of NAM, our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman decided to join the Movement in 1973 in its Algiers’ Summit”.

Terming Bangladesh’s development trajectory as a miracle, the foreign minister highlighted Bangladesh’s economic development under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

He also focused on the significance of South-South Cooperation for achieving SDGs as well as mentioned Bangladesh leading role in the UN’s peacekeeping missions.

On the side lines of the Preparatory Ministerial Meeting, the participated in an event titled “Promoting Peace and Sustainable Development through South-South and Triangular Cooperation”, organized by Azerbaijan, Islamic Development Bank and South Centre.