DHAKA, Feb 25, 2021 (BSS) – Bangladesh today clarified that the location of a boat, stuck at the deep sea with Rohingyas, is far off its territorial water and proximate to other littoral states.
“The boat has been traced approximately 1700 km away from Bangladesh at a location which is approximately 492 km from Myanmar, 363 km from Thailand, 281 km from Indonesia and 147 km from India,” the foreign ministry said here in a statement today.
The ministry said Bangladesh government attention has been drawn to a news article carried by BBC under the headline “Rohingya Crisis: UN urges rescue of refugees adrift at sea”.
Referring to the UN, the report has wrongly claimed that these people were adrift at the sea off the coast of Bangladesh, while the press release issued by the UNHCR and the subsequent news release of the UN clearly mentioned that the boat was located on the Andaman sea, said the statement.
The UN news release clearly specified the location of Andaman Sea which lies to the southeast of Bay of Bengal, south of Myanmar, west of Thailand and east of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, it added.
The foreign minister said Bangladesh is respectful to its international obligations under the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
“In earlier occasions when other littoral countries of the region repeatedly denied access to the Rohingyas adrift on the sea, it was the Bangladesh government who came forward to rescue the people, who were found on our territorial water,” it said.
Dhaka suggested that other states, particularly those, on whose territorial water the vessel has been found bears the primary responsibility and they should fulfill their obligation under international law and burden-sharing principle.