DHAKA, May 2, 2020 (BSS) – European Union (EU) has expected that other countries in the region would grant landing of several hundreds of Rohingyas reportedly stranded in sea following generous example of Bangladesh that had allowed safe landing of 400 Rohingya two weeks back.
“We hope that (South East Asian) countries in the region will follow this (Bangladesh’s) example,” said EU High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell and Commissioner Janez Lenarcic in a joint statement.
The joint statement was made on the situation of the Rohingya people in the waters of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea on Friday, according to a message received from Delegation of the EU in Bangladesh today.
The international media reports suggested that two boats carrying an estimated 500 Rohingya women, men and children – were floating on the sea after their failed attempt to land in Malaysia, where they were denied entry.
In the statement, the top EU office bearers urge the governments in the region to conduct a search and rescue operation and to find a solution for their safe disembarkation.
They praised Bangladesh as Dhaka granted safe landing and assistance to nearly 400 Rohingya on one of the boats earlier on 16 April 2020, showing continued generosity and humanity towards the Myanmar’s ethnic minority those had been forcibly displaced from Rakhine, their land of origin.
The EU also urged all armed forces in Myanmar to urgently implement an unconditional ceasefire and recommit to an all-inclusive peace process that would help address the root causes of the plight of the Rohingya.
“We continue to advocate for the safe, sustainable, dignified, and voluntary return of the Rohingya refugees to their places of origin and for ensuring full accountability for the crimes committed against them,” they said.
Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar district and most of them arrived there since August 25, 2017 after a military crackdown by Myanmar, which the UN called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” by other rights groups.
The EU’s vice president and commission said the EU is a key humanitarian and development donor for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and stands ready to provide further support in the region.
On April 27, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has called for a shared responsibility of neighbourhood countries and developed nations in sheltering Rohingyas while the UK’s state minister for its foreign and commonwealth office called him over the situation of stranded Rohingyas.
Over the phone call with the British junior minister, Momen told him that the boats were not on the Bangladesh coastlines and wondered why Bangladesh alone was being asked to provide them the refuge, discarding other countries in the region.
He said the other countries in South and South East Asia and developed nations as well should simultaneously shoulder responsibilities of providing refuge to the displaced people.
Momen regretted, different countries including the EU kept on investing in Myanmar and the human rights bodies are not vocal over the issues.
Over another telephone conversation with Dutch foreign trade and development cooperation minister Sigrid Kaag on Wednesday, Momen explained that the Rohingyas who are on two boats in the sea are not in or even near the Bangladesh maritime border.
He pointed out that according to the law of the seas, other countries in the region have responsibilities to save the Rohingyas.
Kaag agreed that if Bangladesh continues to rescue boat loads of Rohingyas again and again then it may work as a decoy for Myanmar and encourage them to push more Rohingyas to the deep sea.
Several international rights groups and aid agencies including UNHCR earlier appeared critical on the role countries in the region in rescuing the floating people who were at sea for weeks without adequate food and water
Amnesty International last week called upon Southeast Asian governments to launch immediate search and rescue operations for Rohingyas languishing at sea adding that the COVID-19 pandemic should be a pretext for governments to abandon their responsibilities towards refugees.
“Bangladesh cannot be left to address this situation alone. The fact that it is upholding its own obligations is not an excuse for others to abandon theirs,” the global right watchdog’s South Asia director Biraj Patnaik said in a statement.
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) also said that “all countries, including Malaysia and Thailand, have the responsibility”.