Bangladesh urges UN to effectively engage in Rohingya crisis

UN rights chief meets senior officials in capital Dhaka to assess human rights and conditions of Rohingya refugees.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will meet Rohingya refugees in the border district of Cox’s Bazar. (AP)

Bangladesh has urged the United Nations to effectively engage with Myanmar in the sustainable repatriation of the displaced Rohingya people to their home country of Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen made the appeal while meeting with the visiting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in the capital Dhaka on Sunday evening, said a Foreign Ministry statement.

“Protracted stay of the displaced Rohingya in Bangladesh bears the risk of the spread of radicalism, transnational crimes, etc., and thus may hamper regional stability,” the statement quoted Momen as saying.

Claiming that the Bangladesh government has been taking good care of the persecuted Rohingya since the very beginning and even during the pandemic by providing vaccines, Momen urged the UN system, including UNDP, “to undertake projects in Rakhine to create a conducive environment for the return of the Rohingya.”

READ MORE: Bangladesh seeks China's help for Rohingya repatriation

Safe and voluntary return

Bachelet assured the host country of the “UN’s continued efforts to realise the safe and voluntary return of the Rohingya to Myanmar.”

But for a better and conducive life in Bangladesh until the peaceful repatriation, she underscored the need for their (Rohingya) "education through fully operationalising the learning centres in the camps," the statement added.

Bachelet had a busy day on her first day, also meeting Law Minister Anisul Huq, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, and Education Minister Dr. Dipu Moni.

The issues discussed during her meetings with the high officials include Bangladesh’s controversial Digital Security Act (DSA) which the critics have marked as “a draconian law” enacted before the 2018 general election to politically harass the opposition voices.

Huq, however, told the UN rights chief that the act was enacted to combat cybercrimes.

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Assessing rights situation

The UN human rights chief arrived in Bangladesh in the morning on a 4-day official visit to assess the state of human rights in the South Asian nation and monitor the plight of the persecuted Rohingya community.

This is the first-ever official tour of any UN rights chief to Bangladesh, a country of more than 165 million people.

During her tour, Bachelet will meet Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her Cabinet and members of the civil society.

She will also interact with the National Human Rights Commission in Bangladesh and youth representatives.

Also on the agenda are meetings with Rohingya refugees in the border district of Cox’s Bazar.

Bangladesh is currently hosting more than 1.2 million Rohingya, most of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in the home country of Myanmar’s Rakhine state in August 2017.

READ MORE: Rohingya praise US for recognising their genocide in Myanmar

Source: AA

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/bangladesh-urges-un-to-effectively-engage-in-rohingya-crisis/?feed_id=10895&_unique_id=62f9596f32020

'We also know how to engage in politics of making people change their parties,' says Maryam

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz addressing a press conference in Islamabad on July 28, 2022. — Screengrab/Hum News Live 

ISLAMABAD: If the PTI wants to apply political tactics and make people change party positions, then the coalition government also knows how to engage in that kind of politics, said  PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz during a press conference on Thursday. 

Her comments came following a meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) chiefs to chalk out a future strategy after the coalition parties suffered a major setback in Punjab.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan instated PTI Chairman Imran Khan-backed Pervez Elahi as Punjab's chief minister and removed PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz from office, whose party is the major stakeholder in the coalition.

Berating the judiciary, the PML-N leader said that the verdict was not in the favour of forming a full court because it was an "injustice and a one-sided decision".

"There is unequal justice for Imran Khan and for Nawaz Sharif. If the deputy speaker belongs to PML-N, the court will summon him and will term his ruling as unconstitutional, but the court will not summon him if he belongs to the PTI," said Maryam, adding that the government will not bow to the court's verdict.

The court handed over 25 of our members, including PML-Q's 10 members, to Imran Khan, said Maryam. "This verdict ended the justice system."

Demanding the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announce the verdict on PTI's foreign funding case, Maryam said that the commission should break its silence or the coalition parties will stage a sit-in outside ECP's office.

"We want the ECP to issue a verdict in the foreign funding case as soon as possible. It has been proved that Imran Khan has taken funding from Indians and Israelis," added the PML-N vice president.

Maryam added that the PTI chief himself elected the chief election commissioner. "Khan used to praise the ECP but now is blaming the commission in a bid to pressurise it."

'PDM meeting to continue a few more days'

On the other hand, PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman also stressed that the verdict on the foreign funding case, which has been delayed for the last eight years, should be announced soon. "It has been proved that the PTI concealed the details of their accounts from the ECP," he added.

Talking about the PDM meeting, Fazl said that it is going to continue for a few more days and a joint strategy will be decided by taking the opinions of all political parties involved.

The JUI-F chief said that it was a challenge for the coalition government to save the reputation of the country. He also criticised the Supreme Court's decision of electing Elahi as the chief minister and said that it has created a crisis in the country which is culminating in economic turmoil.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/we-also-know-how-to-engage-in-politics-of-making-people-change-their-parties-says-maryam/?feed_id=3557&_unique_id=62e3052099b24