Hasina on Thursday proposed the creation of UN-supervised ‘safe zones' inside Myanmar to protect Rohingya Muslims who are fleeing a military crackdown to seek refuge in her country
Hasina on Thursday proposed the creation of UN-supervised ‘safe zones' inside Myanmar to protect Rohingya Muslims who are fleeing a military crackdown to seek refuge in her countryBangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has proposed the creation of a safe zone for the Rohingya people inside Myanmar, under United Nations supervision, while speaking at the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly.
She also urged the UN Secretary General to send a fact-finding mission to Myanmar.
Taking the podium right after the speech of Mauritius’ Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, the Prime Minister placed a 5-point proposal to end the Rohingya crisis in front of the General Assembly.
Sheikh Hasina called on “Myanmar to unconditionally stop the violence and the practice of ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine State immediately and forever”.
In her final two points Sheikh Hasina urged for the sustainable return of all Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh and the full implementation of the Kofi Annan Commission report.
The Prime Minister began her speech at 5.29am Bangladesh time. She opened her speech in Bangla, in lieu with the Bangla speech given by father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1974.
She said: “I have come here just after seeing the hungry, distressed and hopeless Rohingyas from Myanmar who took shelter in Cox’s Bazar. This forcibly displaced people of Myanlnar are fleeing an ‘ethnic cleansing’ in their own country where they have been living for centuries.”
“We are currently sheltering over 800,000 forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar. The ongoing atrocities and human rights violations in the Rakhine State of Myanmar has once again aggravated the situation at the Bangladesh-Myanmar Border,” the Bangladesh Prime Minister added.
In her speech the Prime Minister remember the martyrs on the Language Movement in 1952 and the Liberation War in 1971.
“The 1971 genocide included targeted elimination of individuals on the ground of religion, race and political belief. The intellectuals were killed brutally.”
“To pay homage to the victims of the genocide, our parliament has recently declared 25th March ‘Genocide Day’,” Hasina said.
