CPA urges to take resolution on Rohingya issue

Parliamentarians of different member states of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) called for adopting a resolution at its general assembly to mount pressure on Myanmar to end the Rohingya crisis immediately, reports BSS.

Condemning persecution by Myanmar security forces, they said, the world community must act immediately through taking a resolution and other measures to force Myanmar to take back their citizens, they told a question-answer session after a briefing at the Bangabandhu International Conference centre in Dhaka on Sunday.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood addressed the press briefing to let delegates participating in the conference know the Rohingya situation.

Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, among others, were present at the press conference.

Mahmood said “As you are aware Bangladesh is currently facing colossal challenges due to the unprecedented level of influx of Rohingyas from the neighboring Rakhine state of Myanmar.” These people, most of whom are women, children and elderly, are taking shelter in Bangladesh fleeing ethnic cleansing in their homeland, he added.

Since 25 August 2017, more than 600,000 Rohingyas took shelter in Bangladesh, he said adding these displaced are traumatized, hungry and some of them are with injuries caused by gunshots, shrapnel, fire and landmines.

“Earlier on several occasions, 400,000 Rohingyas had been forced to take shelter in Bangladesh. Altogether Bangladesh is currently hosting over a million Rohingyas,” Mahmood added.

The minister said now the question is why the Rohingyas are fleeing from their own homeland? Independent sources including UN and right organizations as well as international media reveal that the villages in Rakhhine are being burned down, the livelihood options are being deliberately destroyed and the people are being forced to leave the country, he added.

Referring to stance and opinions of global leaders, he said, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in his remarks at the 36th human rights Council termed the ongoing military operation as “a textbook example of ethnic cleaning”.