Myanmar reneged on pledge — Hasina

Passengers rescued after plane crashes into sea Bangladesh leader appeals for greater global support for 1.1m Rohingya refugees

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Bangladeshi President Shaikh Hasina yesterday 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 UN.

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.

Cross-border exodus

Most have arrived since August 2017 when attacks by Rohingya militants on Myanmar security forces triggered a massive retaliation that prompted a massive crossborder exodus of civilians.

“Despite a 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, which addressed the General Assembly yesterday.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Thursday hosted a ministerial-level 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.

AFP A Boeing 737-800 crashed into the sea short of the runway at an airport in the tiny South Pacific nation of Micronesia yesterday. All 47 passengers and crew on the Air Niugini flight were rescued by a flotilla of small boats. “The plane was supposed to land but it was 150 metres short and she went down,” Jimmy Emilio, general manager of Chuuk Airport at Weno in Micronesia, said. The aircraft hit the lagoon surrounding the small island about 9.30am local time. The passengers and crew were taken to hospital but no serious injuries were reported.