Staff Reporter : State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam on Monday said that every country as well Myanmar is bound to follow of International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court (ICC).
“It is very clear that Myanmar is not out of the jurisdiction of ICC and ICJ. The international community is building pressure on Myanmar on Rohingya repatriation issue,” the State Minister Alam while speaking as the chief guest at a roundtable conference on Rohingya crises, jointly arranged by the Institute of Conflict, Law and Development Studies (ICLDS) and Bhorer Kagoj at the National Press Club.
More than 7,00,000 Rohingyas were forced to flee to Bangladesh after Myanmar launched a brutal offensive targeting the ethnic minority in late August 2017.
Myanmar has been accused of carrying out human rights abuse.
Gambia, on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, filed a case at the ICJ accusing Myanmar of conducting genocide against Rohingyas.
The International Court of Justice settles disputes between nations, while The International Criminal Court seeks to convict individuals responsible for crimes. Both courts are based in The Hague.
Myanmar, which does not recognise the Rohingyas as citizens, insists that the Netherlands-based court has no jurisdiction over its actions.
But State Minister Shahriar Alam defer it.
“After the end of the first year of influx, we kept wondering if we would be able to keep the Rohingya issue alive at international level,” he said.
The State Minister said that the struggle of Cox’s Bazar’s local people including Ukhya upazila is notable.
“Upazilas accommodating Rohingyas are receiving much better facilities than other areas of the district,” Shahriar Alam said.
The state minister said, that the crisis would not be resolved soon, but the efforts get speed.
“The efficiency and speed of have been increased rapidly over the past five or six months. It will be increased further,” he said.
The state minister said that international leaders being vocal about the Rohingya issue is a significant advancement.
“Japanese and Indian Prime Ministers have warned Myanmer leaders recently that if the Rohingya crises become lengthy, the whole region would be unstable,” the state minister quoted.
Md. Shah Kamal, Senior Secretary of Disester Management and Relief said there are only four lakh Bangladeshi people are living in Ukhya and Teknaf, but the Rohingya people are around 11 lakh there.
Former Election Commissioner Brigadier General (Retd) M Sakhawat Hossain, Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, former Foreign Secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, Major (Retd) Emadad, Immigration Specialist Asif Mumir, Former Ambassador Muhammad Jameer and Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamol Dutt, among others, were present.
