Bangladesh steps up diplomacy; trying to convince China, Russia over Rohingya crisis

Bangladesh has stepped up its efforts to convince the world, particularly the permanent members of the UN Security Council who hold veto power, that the Rohingya issue is a colossal humanitarian crisis.

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque on Saturday briefed Russian Ambassador in Dhaka Alexander Ignatov about the ongoing influx from the Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

He also briefed the Chinese ambassador in Dhaka, Ma Mingqiang, last week.

According to the foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali’s office, the minister will apprise all Dhaka-based diplomats and international agencies about the situation on Sunday.

The briefings follow an exodus of nearly 300,000 Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh since Aug 25 violence.

Myanmar on Wednesday announced that it is negotiating with China and Russia to ensure they block any UN Security Council censure over the violence that has forced those people to flee.

Earlier, China, backed by Russia, blocked a short UN Security Council statement on Myanmar in March this year, after the 15-member body met to discuss the situation in Rakhine state, where the country’s military was conducting a security operation.

In a rare letter to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern that the violence could spiral into a "humanitarian catastrophe".

He warned there was a risk of ethnic cleansing in Myanmar that could destabilise the region.

The Russian ambassador after his meeting at the foreign ministry said he believed that the situation would come up in the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York.

According to the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, the High Commissioner Syed Muazzem Ali on Saturday called on Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and discussed the issue of Rohingya Muslims in detail.

Later in the evening, India in a statement expressed its deep concern over the situation.

A senior official at the foreign ministry told bdnews24.com that they were working with the directives from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“She has clearly directed us to take steps to resolve the issue by keeping the bilateral relations with Myanmar ‘intact’,” the official, who cannot be quoted for not being authorized to talk to media, said.

“The prime minister told us Myanmar is our neighbour. And we cannot change our neighbour”.

But, Bangladesh is stressing on the full implementation of the Kofi Annan commission report that advised Myanmar to ensure citizenship of the Rohingya Muslims and take them back from Bangladesh after “joint verification”.

The United States applauded the government of Bangladesh for its “generosity” to give shelter to those Rohingya people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Bangladesh also proposed Myanmar to create 'safe zones' inside Myanmar for the Rohingyas. Myanmar did not respond to the proposal.