“The news had hit the headlines of global media when three-year-old Syrian Aylan Kurdi came to be washed up dead on a beach in Turkey last year. But strangely nobody talks about the Rohingyas. Is the reason that, Myanmar is a rich country! Bangladesh, however, has given shelter around 2 lakh Rohingyas.”
Law Minister Anisul Haq made the abode remarks taking part in a seminar organized by National Human Rights Commission marking the Human Rights Day in the city’s CIRDAP auditorium on Saturday.
“We’ve an arrangement of providing shelter to 30-35 thousand people, but by now already over 2 lakh Rohingyas are living in this country. We’re trying hard for their welfare withour limited resources. We’re trying to create a ‘sensation’ so that everybody comes forward to help them,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations have reported that there has been a recent escalation of violence against thousands of Rohingya Muslims over the last month. All three agencies have also reported on widespread violation of human rights in Myanmar.
Against this backdrop, Bangladesh-born British MP Rushnara Ali, who is also Co-chair of all party parliamentary group for Burma, along with 70 members has urged the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to intensify his government’s pressure on the Myanmar government and allow full humanitarian access to the Rohingya Muslims in the North Rakhine State of Myanmar.
In the letter written on December 8 she said: “There currently exists an urgent need to prevent further violation on the Rohingya’s human rights. With the UN estimating that 30, 000 people are already displaced, many of the Rohingyas are crossing the border into Bangladesh to join the thousands of refugees already seeking asylum.”
The New York Times in a report on December 9 said: Fourteen governments urged Myanmar on Friday to allow a full resumption of aid to a predominantly Muslim part of Rakhine State, as the United Nations described an apparent escalation of what activists have called a humanitarian crisis there.
The United Nations also reported on Friday that thousands of people in the northern part of the Rakhine State, a conflict-torn border area, have not had access to health services or food assistance for two months and that close to 22,000 Muslims had arrived in neighboring Bangladesh since November 1, the NYT also reported.
Explaining the refugee situation, the Law Minister further said: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already conveyed the concern of Bangladesh about the Rohingya people summoning the envoy of Myanmar. Bangladesh is a land of 16 crore people. We can’t do much more, even if we desire.”
On December 9, a statement by the diplomatic missions of Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States urged on humanitarian access to northern part of Rakhine State.
“As friends of Myanmar, we are deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation in northern part of Rakhine State. We have welcomed the government’s agreement to allow a resumption of humanitarian assistance and initial deliveries to some villages, but we are concerned by delays and urge all Myanmar authorities to overcome the obstacles that have so far prevented a full resumption, noting that tens of thousands of people who need humanitarian aid, including children with acute malnutrition, have been without it now for nearly two months,” the UN statement said.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said the refugee wave from Myanmar is a ‘political problem’ that cannot be solved militarily. “It’s a political problem. It cannot be resolved militarily. We cannot just open our doors to people coming in waves,” the PM said when Danish Ambassador Mikael Hemnid Winther met her on a courtesy call.
Sheikh Hasina, however, told the National Parliament recently that her government has been taking necessary steps to provide humanitarian assistance to Rakhine people who have already entered the country.
