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Momen welcomes as Blinken announces Rohingya atrocity as genocide

BSS . Dhaka
22 Mar 2022 21:12:20 | Update: 22 Mar 2022 21:29:50
Momen welcomes as Blinken announces Rohingya atrocity as genocide
Rohingya siblings fleeing violence hold one another as they cross the Naf River along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Palongkhali, near Cox’s Bazar on November 1, 2017 — Reuters Photo

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday welcomed the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for his announcement that Myanmar military committed genocide against its minority Rohingya.

"We welcome the statement of the US secretary of state and we hope Myanmar will repatriate their people (Rohingya) on a priority basis," he told the media at the ministry.

Momen said it is good news that after Canada, the most superpower like the US recognised the atrocity against Rohingya as genocide.

ALSO READ: US says Myanmar committed genocide against Rohingya

"This US recognition has made our position stronger as Dhaka has been saying the atrocity committed against Rohingya as genocide from the beginning of the influx," he said.

He also hoped that the US announcement might help the Gambia case filed with the International Criminal Court against Myanmar.

The foreign minister said he believes that after Blinken's announcement, the Biden administration will put more pressure on Myanmar to take back the Rohingya people from Bangladesh.

"I do believe, if the world's big power pushes (Myanmar), there will be a solution (of Rohingya repatriation)," he said, adding that Dhaka would be very happy if the US secretary of state's announcement expedites the Rohingya repatriation.

ALSO READ: US genocide designation brings little comfort to Rohingya camps

He said the Rohingya crisis is not Bangladesh's liability, rather it is the responsibility and obligation of the world leaders.

The formal deceleration of genocide against Rohingya was made by Blinken at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC on Monday.

Blinken said evidence showed the "attack against Rohingya was widespread and systematic, which is crucial for reaching a determination of crimes against humanity."

Since August 25 in 2017, Bangladesh has been hosting over 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar and most of them arrived there after a military crackdown by Myanmar, which the UN called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and other rights groups dubbed it as "genocide".

In the last four and half years, not a single Rohingya went back home.

Myanmar agreed to take them back, but repatriation attempts failed twice due to trust deficit among the Rohingyas about their safety and security in Rakhine state.

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