Foreign Secretary Masood bin Momen has called on the international community to press for a "safe zone" in Myanmar's Rakhine state to make the repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh a success.
He made the call on a virtual platform on Tuesday evening at the opening ceremony of a two-day international conference titled "Connecting Rohingya Diaspora".
The discussion was jointly organized by the Center for Genocide, Dhaka University, Action Aid and the Centre for Justice and BRAC University.
Gambian Law Minister ChernoMaraneh, Dhaka University Professor of International Relations Imtiaz Ahmed, Centre for Justice Executive Director Manzur Hasan and Action Aid Bangladesh Head Farah Kabir spoke on the occasion.
The Foreign Secretary said that despite Bangladesh's sincere efforts in repatriation, a conducive environment for Rohingya repatriation in Rakhine is not being created due to Myanmar's lack of goodwill. As a result, the Rohingya are afraid to return. That is why it is now necessary to establish a safe zone for the Rohingya inside Myanmar, where the safety of the Rohingya will be guaranteed and the region will be monitored by civilians.
Gambian law minister ChernoMaraneh said his country and Myanmar would submit their first memorial next October in the International Court of Justice case.
Professor Imtiaz Ahmed said the Rohingya crisis is a global problem. So the international community must come forward to solve this problem.
Manzur Hasan of the Center for Justice said, "We will announce the Dhaka Declaration on Wednesday after a two-day program." This will be the second Dhaka Declaration.
BS/
