Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan yesterday said the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar who intruded into Bangladesh through several border points will be sent back to their country at a convenient time, reports UNB. The minister came up with the remark while talking to reporters after attending a programme arranged by Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense in the city’s Mirpur area. The government is providing humanitarian assistance to the Rohingyas who have already entered the country crossing the border illegally, Asaduzzaman added. Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Coast Guard are patrolling round the clock to check the influx of Rohingyas, he said.
Our staff reporter adds: The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) yesterday reiterated its call for diplomatic efforts involving the international community to force Myanmar to stop persecution of Rohingyas.
“We don’t say we need to help Rohingya people to fight against the Myanmar authorities. But diplomatic pressure should be exerted together with the global community so that they can peacefully stay in their own country,” said BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan while speaking at a human chain programme in front of the Jatiya Press Club.
He said providing a temporary shelter to Rohingyas was not a solution, adding that they need a peaceful and safe existence in their own country.
Jatiyatabadi Ulema Dal, a front organisation of the BNP, organised the rally in protest against what it termed “the genocide and repression of Rohingyas by the Myanmarese government”.
The BNP leader also reiterated the party’s call to give fleeing Rohingyas temporary shelter at a specific place on humanitarian grounds. “They (Rohingyas) are entering Bangladesh for shelter after crossing the Naf river to save their lives. Sending them back would be akin to pushing them into certain death,” he said.
He even alleged that boats carrying Rohingyas were being sent back. “They are drowning in the river and getting killed near the border on their return to their country, which cannot be acceptable,” he added.
Khan recalled that nearly one crore people had taken shelter in neighbouring India during the War of Liberation to save themselves from persecution by the Pakistani occupation forces. He observed that it was regrettable that Bangladesh was not standing beside the oppressed people of its neighbouring country.
He also criticised human rights organisations for not raising their voice over the Rohingya issue. “They (the organisations) remain silent as the government doesn’t take a position in favour of Rohingyas,” he said.
Meanwhile, police yesterday stopped a Hefazat-e-Islam procession that was heading towards the Myanmar embassy with the intention of seizing the mission.
Later, a Hefazat delegation went to the embassy and submitted a protest note condemning the killing and inhuman torture of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
Last Friday, Hefazat leaders had declared, after the Jummah prayer, the programme to seize the Myanmar embassy in Dhaka on December 1. Yesterday morning, police halted a Hefazat procession that had set out from the Baitul Mukarram Mosque. At a rally in front of the mosque, Hefazat leaders threatened a long march to the Myanmar border if the killing of Rohynga persisted. They also demanded UN intervention to put an end to ongoing atrocities against Rohingyas. Thousands of Rohingya people, a Muslim minority of Rakhine state of Myanmar, have been fleeing their country amid persecution by Myanmar military and trying to enter the Bangladesh illegally through several border points, including the Naf River.