‘Rohingya crisis could destabilize entire region’

Desk Report: President M Abdul Hamid has solicited support and cooperation from CICA partners to repatriate the forcibly displaced Rohingya people to their ancestral homeland of Myanmar with safety and dignity.

“Bangladesh hosts 1.1 million forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals . . . We seek a peaceful solution to the crisis and also signed instruments on their repatriation with Myanmar. (But) if it left unresolved, the crisis could destabilize the entire region,” he said.

The president was addressing the fifth summit of Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) at the Navruz Palace in Tajik capital of Dushanbe on Saturday.

The head of the state highlighted Bangladesh’s position on Rohingya crisis, saying Bangladesh opened its door for Rohingya people, the worst victims of genocide and gross violation of human rights, which has been termed as a ‘text book example of ethnic cleansing’ and ‘humanitarian catastrophe of unmanageable magnitude’.

President Hamid said Rohingya people were forcibly displaced from their ancestral homes, adding that Bangladesh government extended the hand of cooperation to them on humanitarian ground after they (Rohingyas) sought shelter in the neighboring country.

Putting stress on working together in different issues in this region, the president said “We are facing a number of serious issues like violent extremism, international terrorism and forced migration which go beyond borders. So we need to coordinate our response to tackle those issues.”

The security in Asia gradually becomes vulnerable as irregular migration, drug trafficking, territorial claims, ethnic conflicts, separatism, economic problems and climate change are visible here, he mentioned. _BSS

risingbd/Dhaka/June 15, 2019/AKA