Rohingya persecution continues

The UN estimates that in just over one week more than 70,000 Rohingya have crossed over to Bangladesh. Bangladesh estimates the number stands between fifty and sixty thousand. The fact that there is no consensus about the exact number of Rohingyas who have crossed over speaks volumes about our handling of the problem.  

The UN Security Council, in a recent meeting, discussed the violence in Myanmar but no formal statement from the 15-member council has emerged following that. The Association of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights has also called on Myanmar to take immediate action to protect civilians from violent clashes in Rakhine. However, the international community still fails to create sufficient pressure on Aung San Suu Kyi while she deems "ethnic cleansing as too strong an expression," with the exception of the Turkish president who has called the genocide what it is. Given the gravity of the situation, Bangladesh cannot remain aloof, neither can the rest of the world.  

An immediate priority for Bangladesh should be to urgently respond to the humanitarian needs. After all, in spite of resource constraints, we have been providing humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya refugees for so long. Also, it is high time to undertake an assertive, proactive diplomacy. And the plight of the Rohingyas should be disseminated as widely as possible to the world. 

With the continued influx of Rohingya refugees this has become a humanitarian catastrophe of gargantuan proportions with far reaching economic, political and social implications for the country. A disaster has been created by Myanmar that Bangladesh is suffering the consequences of, and it must garner all international efforts to persuade Myanmar to resolve the problem without delay.