Hasina slams slow Myanmar response

new york — Bangladeshi President Sheikh Hasina on Thursday accused Myanmar of failing to honour a verbal commitment to take back Rohingya Muslims who have fled a crackdown she described as tantamount to genocide.

Hasina’s remarks at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations came as the UN Human Rights Council agreed to set up a team to collect evidence of alleged crimes that one day could be used to prosecute suspected perpetrators.

UN-backed investigators have already said the reported atrocities could amount to genocide and other war crimes. Myanmar, which barred the investigators from the country, has rejected that reporting as “replete with unverified information”.

“We are appalled by what we have seen in UN reports about atrocities against the Rohingya who have now taken shelter in Bangladesh, which are tantamount to genocide and crimes against humanity,” Hasina told the General Assembly.

She appealed for more international support for the 1.1 million Rohingya refugees now sheltering in Bangladesh, and urged an “early, peaceful solution” to the crisis. “Despite their verbal commitment to take back the Rohingya, in reality the Myanmar authorities are yet to accept them back,” Hasina said.

International pressure is mounting on Myanmar. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Thursday hosted a ministeriallevel meeting on the sidelines of the assembly to address the plight of the Rohingya, following another hosted by Britain earlier in the week. Both were conducted behind closed doors. —

Despite their verbal commitment to take back the Rohingya, in reality the Myanmar authorities are yet to accept them back

Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh PM