Hawzah News Agency – Bangladesh’s foreign secretary said Wednesday that his country is strongly committed to establishing a peace process for Palestine and denouncing Islamophobia, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
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.
The 57-member body, the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations, held the session of the council this year with the theme “Partnering for Unity, Justice and Development” where several political, economic, social, cultural and security issues were discussed, said the statement.
“Bangladesh will continue its engagements with the OIC, which has always been guided by the principles of peace, prosperity and development,” Momen added.
Resolution on Rohingya
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).”
Momen called on the member states to contribute voluntarily to the fund created by the OIC to run the case against Myanmar at the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), for allegedly committing genocide against the Rohingya.
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.