UN chief Guterres talks to PM Hasina over phone, discusses Rohingya crisis

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has again called on the international community, especially the United Nations, for exerting more pressure on Myanmar to take back the Rohingyas from Bangladesh.

She reiterated Bangladesh's demand during a telephone conversation with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday night, the Prime Minister's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told reporters.

He said Guterres made the phone call to Hasina at around 9:30 pm and the conversation lasted for about 20 minutes on the Rohingya crisis.

The press secretary said the UN secretary general expressed 'grave concern' over the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas into Bangladesh.

Guterres also extended his solidarity with Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue and thanked the government for sheltering and providing services to the forcibly evicted Myanmar citizens.

The prime minister sought the UN chief's support for the implementation of her five-point proposal she placed in the 72nd UN General Assembly in New York last month, reports bdnews24.

"I've presented the five-point proposal for a sustainable solution to the problem," Karim quoted her as telling the UN chief.

One of Bangladesh's proposals demands the UN chief should immediately send a fact-finding mission to Myanmar.

The four other proposals are:

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

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

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

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

The prime minister's press secretary said Sheikh Hasina thanked the UN secretary general for the phone call and sought his support and continued engagement with the issue until a durable solution is achieved.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh was already engaged with Myanmar bilaterally to find out a 'workable arrangement' for the return of the displaced Rohingyas to their homeland by peaceful means, Karim said.

Nearly 600,000 Rohingya refugees, of whom 61 per cent are children, have arrived in Cox’s Bazar from neighbouring Myanmar to escape murder, rape and hunger amid a violent army crackdown following insurgent attacks on security forces on Aug 25.

The UN chief and other officials earlier described the army operation as 'ethnic cleansing'.

Guterres told the UN Security Council, during its first public meeting on Myanmar in eight years on Sept 29, that the violence had spiralled into the "world's fastest developing refugee emergency, a humanitarian and human rights nightmare".

During the conversation with the UN chief, Hasina informed him that Bangladesh would send Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to Myanmar to discuss the issues and find a solution to the crisis.   

"You're very much aware that the cause of the problem lies in Myanmar and its solution should be found in Myanmar," Karim quoted Hasina as telling Guterres.

Sheikh Hasina thanked Guterres for his 'concern, compassion and support' for the Rohingyas, as well as his continued and 'strong' pro-active role in drawing the UN Security Council's attention and the world community.

The prime minister also informed him that the exodus of Rohingyas into Bangladesh was continuing.

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

She said the people and the government of Bangladesh are addressing the crisis together with the cooperation of all UN agencies.

"IOM, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, FAO, UN Women, UNDP and other UN agencies providing emergency humanitarian assistance and services in the coordination and overall supervision of the Bangladesh government," she said.

The prime minister added that the government allowed the UN agencies and international and local NGOs full access to Cox's Bazar district where the Rohingyas took refuge.

Bangladesh already sheltered around 400,000 Rohingyas who fled decades of persecution in Myanmar.