The UN General Assembly recently adopted a resolution condemning Myanmar’s atrocities and human rights abuse against Muslim Rohingya people who took shelter in Bangladesh fleeing ‘ethnic cleansing’ in the Rakhine State. This is the third time the resolution has been adopted by the General Assembly since 2017.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said that the new development is an expression of international community's continued solidarity with the cause of Rohingyas.
Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.2 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazaar district of the country and much of Bangladesh's forest is getting destroyed creating environmental disasters.
The government of Bangladesh, along with several other nations, has been pressuring Myanmar to take back the Rohingya refugees in a safe and dignified manner. The huge number of Rohingya refugees in the country has put an enormous strain on our economy and the environment. Moreover, the Rohingya also pose a security threat as many have been found to be involved in gang warfare, drug smuggling and other illegal activities.
Some 134 countries out of 193 members voted in favour; nine voted against and 28 abstained, according to Bangladesh’s Permanent Mission in New York.
The international community must continue
to put due pressure on Myanmar to reintegrate
the Rohingya back into their homeland
The resolution calls on Myanmar to stop atrocities against Rohingyas. They also expressed alarm at the continuing influx of Rohingya to Bangladesh over the past four decades ‘in the aftermath of atrocities committed by the security and armed forces of Myanmar’.
The resolution called on Myanmar to protect all groups and to ensure justice for all violations of human rights. The UN General Assembly’s resolutions are not legally binding. But those reflect world opinion.
The international community must continue to put due pressure on Myanmar to reintegrate the Rohingyas back into their homeland. The international community must remain vigilant when it comes to human rights violations against the oppressed community. They must ensure that Myanmar cannot carry out any more atrocities and violent ethnic cleansing against the Rohingyas.
