MoFA summons Myanmar envoy; strongly protests anti-Bangladesh remarks

Bangladesh has strongly protested Myanmar's recent anti-Bangladesh and racist remarks saying Myanmar's such remarks are "unacceptable" that hurt the sentiment of Muslims.

Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka Lwin Oo was called at the office of Maritime Affairs Unit Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rear Admiral M Khurshed Alam on Wednesday to lodge the protest, said a diplomatic source.

Myanmar's Religious Affairs and Culture Minister Thura Aung Ko on Tuesday said Rohingyas living in Bangladesh are being "brainwashed" and Bangladesh is not allowing them to return, according to international media.

Earlier on November 27, the Myanmar Minister talked about birth rates among the people of an unnamed religion apparently referring to Muslims.

He said while Buddhists practice monogamy and they have only one or two children but an “extreme religion” encourages having three or four wives and giving birth to 15 to 20 children, international media quoted him as saying in a video published by Radio Free Asia.

Myanmar refers to the Rohingyas as ‘Bengalis’ apparently to suggest that they are from Bangladesh but Rohingyas say they are from Rakhine State of Myanmar.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has recently said there is compelling evidence that the Myanmar military committed ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Rohingya, the Muslim minority population of Myanmar.

The Museum came to the conclusion based on a careful analysis in consultation with an advisory group of atrocity experts; its own on-the-ground, original research that resulted in a joint report in 2017 with Fortify Rights; and information recently released in the Department of State's documentation report and the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission.

“The Burmese [Myanmar] military's campaign against the Rohingya, especially the attacks of August 2017, have been deliberate, systematic, and widespread,” said Lee Feinstein, a member of the Museum's governing Council and the Chairman of its Committee on Conscience, which advises the genocide prevention work of the Museum.

“For the sake of the remnant community of Rohingya still in Burma and those threatened with being returned, we hope this announcement prods action,” Feinstein added.

For decades, the Myanmar government has persecuted the Rohingya, stripping them of citizenship and subjecting them to waves of mass violence, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

DailyBangladesh/Prince