President seeks global pressure on Myanmar over Rohingyas

Desk Report: President M Abdul Hamid has called for mounting global pressures on Myanmar to take back their over a forcibly displaced Rohingya population as he addressed a global security summit on the sidelines of the World Investment Forum-2018.

“Global problem requires global solution…I urge all members of the international community to arrive at a durable solution and stop the process of impunity by identifying the persons responsible for the acts of violence,” he said.

President Hamid was delivering his speech on ‘The hardening of international relations: A risk to peace and security’ at the opening session of the 20th Homeland and Global Security Forum at Plenary Hall at the Grand Hotel Kempinski in Geneva on Thursday.

The President is now on his five-day official visit to Geneva of Switzerland to attend the World Investment Forum-2018.

“We all are appalled by what we have seen in the UN Reports about the
horrifying atrocities committed against them which tantamount to genocide and crimes against humanity…and we are trying to do our best in our ability to provide food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, childcare and above all, the sense of security,” he said.

“The case of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar may be considered as an acid test for the global community to collectively deal with an international problem and a test case for any future international cooperation on peace and security,” the President said.

Observing that the rise of terrorism and extremism along with proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and trans-national crimes are pushing the humanity to the edge, he said local or regional conflicts abound in all parts of the world and unfortunately, instead of putting pressures on the opposing sides, the countries are seen to take different sides.

Abdul Hamid stressed the need for concerted efforts involving all countries to face new security threats like cyber-attack and cope with the adverse impacts of climate change-induced disasters.

“Peace has now become more than absence of war and the traditional definition of security has changed forever. Now we also have powerful non-state actors to influence the international politics to make the matter worse.

“As the Fourth Industrial Revolution has presented us with unparalleled prospect of development, at the same time the humanity is also faced with probably the greatest dangers and existential threats in all its known history,” he said.

Noting that the world must feed more than 9 billion people by 2050 but it is not prepared for that, Abdul Hamid said malnutrition and hunger are still ruling many parts of the world.

“The rise of nationalist identity-based politics set by different countries along with lack of trust are directly impacting activities of different multilateral organisations and their peace-building efforts…both at global and regional levels, absence of trust and lack of collaboration are on the rise,” he said.

President of Amenia Armen Sarkissian, Montenegro President Filip Vujanovic and Lesotho Prime Minister Thomas Motsoahae Thabane, among others, spoke on the occasion with honourary chairman and founder of Crans Montana Forum Jean-Paul Carteron in the chair.

President Hamid also exchanged greetings with the heads of the states and representatives of different countries. _BSS
 

risingbd/Dhaka/October 25, 2018/A K Azad