DHAKA, Oct 30, 2019 (BSS) – Bangladesh today sharply accused Myanmar of
spearheading a “concocted campaign” to evade its pledge to return the
Rohingyas.
The foreign ministry today issued a long statement asking Nay Pyi Taw to
stop the concocted campaign containing “baseless accusation, falsification,
and misrepresentation of facts against Bangladesh”.
“The Government of Bangladesh rejects such baseless accusation,
falsification, and misrepresentation of facts,” read the statement adding
that Dhaka was deeply disappointed with Myanmar’s campaign.
Dhaka simultaneously asked Myanmar rather to concentrate on fulfilling
their obligation on Rohingyas repatriation from Bangladesh as “Bangladesh
recently noticed another round of such attempts to evade obligations.
The statement came as Myanmar Union Minister for International Cooperation
U Kyaw Tin recently accused Bangladesh of mischaracterizing Rohingya crisis
as “religious persecution”, “driving an ethnic group out of the country”,
“ethnic cleansing” or “genocide”.
In reality, the statement said, the international community made the
observations “based on documented evidence, which bear the unmistakable signs
of forcible deportation of a community from its ancestral homeland in Rakhine
under atrocity crimes on civilian population”.
The Myanmar minister made the statement at the Preparatory Ministerial
Meeting ahead of the recent Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Baku of Azerbaijan
while the event was joined by Bangladesh foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen
as well.
It said the Myanmar minister resorted to misrepresentation of the whole
issue as well as laying unjustified blames on Bangladesh in his effort to
refute the well-founded remarks by Momen on Rohingya crisis.
The statement said with “utter dismay’ Dhaka witnessed persistent campaign
on the part of Myanmar government “to mislead the international community
with fabricated and misrepresentation of facts”.
It said Myanmar was simultaneously accusing Dhaka of failure to initiate
the repatriation process to “avoid its (own) obligations for sustained
repatriation and reintegration of the forcibly displaced Rohingya in safety
and dignity”.
The statement asked Myanmar to seriously consider a comprehensive
international engagement in creating conducive environment for Rohingyas
return and monitoring the reintegration process.
“Myanmar should also cooperate with international community to eliminate
the culture of impunity for the sake of a durable solution to the protracted
problem,” the statement suggested.
The Myanmar Minister in his statement also claimed that the crisis was
confined only in the northern strip of Rakhine and people of different faiths
were living in harmony in the remaining areas across his country.
But Bangladesh foreign ministry pointed out “it is a well-known fact that
continued disenfranchisement of country’s ethnic minorities by successive
Myanmar governments.
Dhaka also accused successive Myanmar regimes of suppressing the minority
rights and their justified demands turning the country “as one of the world’s
largest homes to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and leading source of
cross border displacements”.
The statement pointed out that a substantial number of forcibly displaced
Myanmar nationals of varied ethnic and religious backgrounds are in temporary
shelter in different countries for decades and only a few could return and
reintegrate in their homeland.
Bangladesh blasted Myanmar for its continued campaign to portray Rohingyas
as “illegal-migrants” from Bangladesh during the colonial era.
“Now they came up with an innovation that there was a massive influx of
Bangladeshis to Myanmar during the War of Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971,”
it said calling the claim entirely baseless.
The statement said history suggested Rohingyas were a “distinct ethnic
community evolved over the centuries through mingling of migrated people of
various races and cultures from different parts of the world with the local
people in Rakhine”.
It recalled on two previous occasions Myanmar recognized displaced
Rohingyas in Bangladesh as their lawful residents and repatriated them and
“as far as the nationality of Rohingya is concerned . . . there cannot be any
scope of confusion”.
“Attempts to create controversy over their identity at this stage clearly
indicate that Myanmar still pursues the policy of exclusion and
marginalisation of its ethnic minorities,” the statement read.
Defying the Myanmar Minister’s claim that Rohingya crisis has been
presented as a matter of inter-communal tension and development shortfall in
Rakhine State, Dhaka said “In reality, systematic discrimination and
persecutions by the state are the main root causes of this protracted crisis,
as recognized by Kofi Annan Commission and the international community in
general.”
Referring to Tin’s accusation on ARSA for initiating the crisis and
preventing the displaced Rohingya from returning, the foreign ministry said
Myanmar should understand that so called ARSA attack on 25 August 2017 can
never justify highly disproportionate military response, widespread human
rights abuses, and atrocity crimes on a particular ethnic community.
“The Government of Bangladesh reaffirms Myanmar that there are no ARSA
activities at Rohingya camps,” it added.
It is not possible to operate terrorist bases anywhere in Bangladesh
because of high alertness and effective preventive measures by the security
forces in the line with “zero tolerance policy” of the present Bangladesh
Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, it
clarified.
The Government of Bangladesh has taken adequate measures to ensure that the
potential returnees are able to express their views on return without any
influence or threat from any quarter.
“Myanmar must refrain from implicating Bangladesh into its internal
political and security conundrum and may respond positively to Bangladesh’s
offer for a comprehensive cooperation mechanism in the combat of terrorism,”
said the Bangladesh statement.
Mentioning that Myanmar often complains against Bangladesh for non-
cooperation in repatriation, it said such accusation is totally baseless and
could be guided by an ulterior motive.
“Myanmar Government is yet to demonstrate any political-will to implement
the provisions of bilateral instruments and to address the underlying
political, economic, security, and social causes rooted in the problem,” said
the foreign ministry’s statement.
No one agreed to return on two previous repatriation attempts, as the
Rohingya are not assured of safety, security, and sustainable livelihood in
Rakhine, it added.
The foreign ministry clarified its position saying that maintains its
principled position of not preventing anyone, regardless of ethnic and
religious identity, who intends to return to Myanmar anytime.
“The Government of Bangladesh always stands ready to extend all possible
cooperation to those who volunteer to return,” it said adding that sincerity
of Bangladesh in facilitating earliest repatriation of Myanmar residents has
been unquestionably established through its actions.
The Government of Bangladesh has consistently been pursuing the policy of
resolving this protracted problem through dialogue, maintaining friendly
relations with Myanmar.
“Unjustifiable accusation on the part of a party who is entirely
responsible for the protracted crisis is totally unacceptable. Such venture
would undermine Bangladesh’s current efforts to resolve the crisis,” said the
foreign ministry’s statement.
It also mentioned that Myanmar’s claim of return of a handful of people out
of around 1.1 million using their personal contacts with Myanmar officials
does not testify any improvement of the ground reality in Rakhine.
The foreign ministry referred to a recent comprehensive report by Radio
Free Asia on those returnees that reveals total lack of preparedness on the
part of Myanmar Government.
“While Myanmar claims that the situation in the place of return is
conducive enough for repatriation, it must allow the international community
and representatives of the prospective returnees to visit those places to
assess the reality and help the returnees making an informed choice,”
Bangladesh suggested.
They can also invite international media and UN agencies to justify their
claim of creating conducive environment for safe, dignified, and voluntary
return in Rakhine, it added.
Though Myanmar usually tries to give a positive impression about the
involvement of UN agencies and other partners in Rakhine state, access to
Rohingya villages is reportedly still highly restricted for the international
community, it said.
Myanmar Government persistently denies a meaningful engagement of UN
bodies and other partners in the creation of conducive environment and
monitoring of return and reintegration in Rakhine, said the statement.