UNSC has seen the reality

We welcome the commitment made by the UNSC delegation that resolution of the Rohingya crisis will be its top priority. Now that the high powered delegation is in Myanmar having seen firsthand the plight of the Rohingya refugees, the unspeakable torture they have suffered in their homeland, we expect it to convey to the Myanmar government in no uncertain terms the urgency of resolving the crisis that Myanmar has itself created.

The eyes of the world will now be on the UNSC since it is now its moral responsibility to intervene and create enough pressure on Myanmar which has so far done nothing to alleviate the sufferings of the Rohingyas, create proper conditions for their repatriation or even to acknowledge that atrocities at the hands of members of the Myanmar's army have taken place.

Bangladesh has done more than its share by sheltering more than a million Rohingyas in its land, despite all the resource constraints. It has, moreover, tried its best to resolve the issue through a bilateral agreement with Myanmar, an agreement Myanmar has not taken seriously. It has tried to bluff Bangladesh with insincere shows of trying to repatriate refugees while confining other Rohingyas in Rakhine in squalid, claustrophobic camps and disregarding Bangladesh's and the international community's demand to create proper conditions for repatriation. Placing too much emphasis on the bilateral agreement will only prolong the plight of the Rohingyas.

We are waiting to see how the international body will address the issue of repatriation of the Rohingyas, ensuring that all the fundamental causes that led to this massive exodus are removed. The UN must realise that Bangladesh has not created this crisis, Myanmar has, and the solution will have to come from it. This will only be possible if the UN and its members exert consistent pressure on Myanmar. This, we hope, will be the main thrust of the UN delegation to Myanmar.