ZCZC
BSS-22
BANGLADESH-MYANMAR-CAMPAIGN
Myanmar must stop unjustified campaign: Bangladesh
DHAKA, Nov 24 2019 (BSS) – Rejecting all baseless accusation, falsification, and misrepresentation of facts against Bangladesh over Rohingya repatriation, a foreign ministry statement here today asked Myanmar to stop concocted campaigns.
“The government of Myanmar must stop such concocted campaign and rather concentrate on the fulfilment of its obligations so that the forcibly displaced Rohingyas could return home in a safe, dignified and voluntary manner,” the foreign ministry re-clarified the Bangladesh position in the statement.
It said the continued rally of fabricated information, misrepresentation of facts, unsubstantiated claims, and unwarranted accusations to unjustifiably shift the onus of the Rohingya crisis on Bangladesh testifies the campaign of Myanmar to avoid its obligations to create conducive environment in Rakhine for the sustained repatriation and reintegration of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas in their homeland.
“None other than Myanmar should be responsible for prolongation of the crisis. Bangladesh has no interest in delaying the repatriation,” Dhaka re-clarified its position over the Rohingya issue. It justified that Bangladesh’s sincerity in facilitating earliest repatriation of Rohingyas as per bilateral instruments has been unquestionably established through its actions.
The statement referred to a recent press conference of Myanmar’s ministry of state counsellor’ office, held on Nov 15, where the spokesperson made “another venture to unduly attribute the non-commencement of repatriation of the Rohingyas entirely to non-cooperation and non-respect of bilateral arrangements by Bangladesh.”
Even, it said, the Myanmar authority also expressed intimidation and harsh criticism of the international community for the recent initiatives on the accountability of the perpetrators for atrocity crimes, it added.
In the presence of Myanmar official in Cox’s Bazar during the repatriation attempt in August 2019, the Bangladesh statement said, the Rohingyas made it clear to the world media that they possess strong desire to voluntarily return to their ancestral homeland if and only if they are assured of safety, security and sustainable living in Rakhine.
“Myanmar must not expect Bangladesh to cooperate in repatriation in an uncertain environment in Rakhine,” it said.
The statement said if Myanmar were really sincere about the repatriation, they must have by now arranged return of about 4,200 Rohingyas from the “no man’s land” at Bangladesh-Myanmar border and resettled around 140,000 individuals from IDP camps in Rakhine to their respective places of origin.
“To rehabilitate and reintegrate these people into their societies, Myanmar does not need any involvement of Bangladesh,” it said.
MORE/TA/GA/1552 hrs