5-point proposal could resolve Rohingya crisis: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the Rohingya crisis could be resolved in line with the five-point proposal she had placed in last month's UN General Assembly session in New York.

"We don't want war ... we believe all problems could be solved through discussion," she said while receiving donations to her Relief and Welfare Fund.

Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) handed over the donations to the Prime Minister at her office.

After the function, PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters.

The five-point proposal that the prime minister made at the 72nd UNGA session on Sept 21:

First: Myanmar must unconditionally stop the violence and the practice of ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine State immediately and forever.

Second: Secretary General of the United Nations should immediately send a Fact-Finding Mission to Myanmar.

Third: All civilians irrespective of religion and ethnicity must be protected in Myanmar. For that "safe zones" could be created inside Myanmar under UN supervision.

Fourth: Ensure sustainable return of all forcibly displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh to their homes in Myanmar.

Fifth: The recommendations of Kofi Annan Commission Report must be immediately implemented unconditionally and in its entirety.

The prime minister said Bangladesh has been carrying the burden of four lakh Rohingyas for decades as they were victims of ethnic persecution in their homeland Myanmar.

Sheikh Hasina said her government has given shelter to the Rohingyas on humanitarian grounds.

"It is a responsibility of every human being to stand beside the distressed humanity ... it would be inhumane if we don't stand beside the Rohingyas at the time of their distress," she added.

Thanking the BAB for coming forward in aid of the distressed humanity, the prime minister said the association always extends their helping hand for people's welfare.

"They also stood beside the people during the recent flood. They also came forward to the help of those who were forced to take shelter in Bangladesh after being persecuted in Myanmar," she said.

In this connection, she recalled the genocide of Pakistani occupation forces during Bangladesh's Liberation War and said the atrocities on the Rohingya people remind us of the torture perpetrated by the Pakistani occupation forces in 1971.

"Over 10 million people became refugees and three crore people became homeless during our Liberation War," she said.

Remembering her and her younger sister's refugee life after the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975, she said: "We feel the pain and sorrow of the Rohingyas as we had to lead a refugee life for six years."

Pointing out that the cross section of people came forward to help the distressed Rohingyas, Sheikh Hasina said the people of the country have a human quality. "They have stood beside the Rohingyas by taking help from the remote areas," she said.

The prime minister said the civil administration, army, navy and air force, BGB, Police and her party volunteers are working hard to mitigate the sufferings of these people.

She said arrangements are being made to relocate them to a safer place where multipurpose cyclone shelter centres would be constructed for them.

While talking about the issue of militancy, Sheikh Hasina said: "It's a global problem ... incidents of militancy also took place here. But we contained it with an iron hand."

Source: bss