Justice and accountability is must to resolve the Rohingya Crisis
Diplomatic Correspondent
International community and States Parties of Rome Statute need to stand resolutely with Bangladesh in securing sustainable return of the Rohingya people to their homeland, Myanmar.
The speakers underlined it at an event during the 21st (annual) Assembly of the States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague on December 9.
The event titled ‘Justice for the Rohingyas’ was co-hosted by Bangladesh Embassy to the Netherlands, the Government of Gambia and No Peace without Justice.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands, M Riaz Hamidullah, Deputy Prosecutor of ICC, Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of Burma Rohingya Organisation UK, Tun Khin, former member of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, Amb. Laetitia Van Den Assum, and Gambian Solicitor General, Hussein Thomasi, spoke at the event, said the Bangladesh Embassy in the Hague.
Ambassador Hamidullah said that in securing lasting solution within new federal strucutre of Myanmar, issues relating to the Rohingya people as also other ethnic minorities in Myanmar merit attention in inclusive and transparent ways.
As the regional grouping, civil society actors, think-tank, academia within ASEAN region need to look at situation in Myanmar to ensure the region's collective stability and prosperity. Aside humanitarian assistance, political solution should be equally in focus, he added.
Rohingya leader Thun Khin appreciated Bangladesh for hosting Rohingya and in their fight for justice for the Rohingya. He shared the significance of the universal jurisdiction investigation in an Argentine Court a key step in securing justice for the Rohingyas; and urged more countries to consider such case.
Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Khan shared the progress on investigation on the ICC Case inquiring war crimes against Rohingyas.
The Gambian Solicitor General said that The Gambia itself had been a victim of two decades' of authoritarian rule and thus valued the Rohingya issue in initiating the procedure at the ICJ as a member of the Genocide Convention.
Ambassador Laetitia Assum said that the ground situation in Myanmar continues to escalate since the coup déta two years since. She viewed that as most ASEAN countries do not share a border with Myanmar, they do not sufficiently understand the bear the burden on the neighboring countries.
