Bangladesh Committed to Establishing Peace in Palestine

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Bangladesh’s foreign secretary has said that his country is strongly committed to establishing a peace process for Palestine and denounces Islamophobia.

Masud Bin Momen expressed his country’s stance while addressing the 48th Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in Islamabad, Pakistan from March 22-23.

He also reiterated Bangladesh’s commitment to denouncing hate crimes against Muslims and stopping all forms of terrorism, including financing in terrorism, radicalization and violent extremism.

A resolution titled “Situation of the Rohingya Muslim Community in Myanmar” was also unanimously adopted at the council to maintain pressure on Myanmar’s authorities “to ensure the safe and dignified return of the Rohingyas to their homeland (of Myanmar’s Rakhine State).”

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed while more than 34,000 were thrown into fires, over 114,000 beaten, as many as 18,000 Rohingya women and girls raped, over 115,000 Rohingya homes burned down and 113,000 others vandalized by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after the August 2017 crackdown, pushing the number of persecuted people in Bangladesh above 1.2 million.

The Muslim majority country of Gambia filed a genocide lawsuit against Myanmar at the ICJ on Nov. 11, 2019, which is also the first judicial move for justice against the murder, rape, arson attacks and other atrocities against the minority Rohingya Muslims.