H.E. Mr. Shahidul Haque, Foreign Secretray of Bangladesh.
The Hague, 10 December 2019, the ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates, H.E. Dr. Hissa Abdulla A. Alotaiba, Bangladesh, H.E. Sheik Mohammed Belal, the Charge d’affaires a.i. of Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Nasser A. Alghanoom and Malaysia, Dr. Norhisyam Mohd Yusof organized a reception on the occasion of the visit of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of The Gambia H.E. Mr. Abubacarr Marie Tambadou, the Minister of Foreign Affaires of Bangladesh, H.E. Mr. Shahidul Haque along with the Honorable Mr. Bob Rae, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Canada to Myanmar.
Minister Tambadou and Mr Rae are in The Hague in connection with the Gambia’s application against Myanmar before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the alleged violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention).
Also present the Director of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr. Hassan Ahmed Abedin, representing the Secretary General Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen.
The Reception jointly organized by the Embassies of Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia in The Hague was attended by the President of the International Criminal Court, H.E. Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, the Director-General of the OPCW, H.E. Mr. Fernando Arias, Gambia’s Legal Team, Dutch politicians and senior government officials, also Ambassadors, members of diplomatic corps, representatives from The Hague-based international organizations, representative from the OIC Secretariat, members of international media and international civil society organizations and Rohingya representatives.
The Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh H.E. Mr. Shahidul Haque in his speech, explained the historical background of how Bangladesh has been bearing the brunt over decades of the systematic persecution against the Rohingyas in the Rakhine State by the Myanmar authorities.
Narrating the horrors unleashed on the Rohingya people on 25 August 2017 in the Rakhine State by Myanmar authorities, the Foreign Secretary highlighted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s humanitarian drive to open the borders for the persecuted Rohingyas despite Bangladesh’s multi-dimensional constraints.
He also touched upon Hon’ble Prime Minister’s bringing the perpetrators’ accountability issue before the international community in the UN General Assembly first in 2018.
Thanking the international community for their support to Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue, the Foreign Secretary urged them to raise their voice to ensure justice for the persecuted Rohingyas. He also lauded The Gambia for its instituting the case against Myanmar at the ICJ under the 1948 Genocide Convention and thanked the OIC to back The Gambia in this endeavour.
The Minister of Justice of The Gambia Abubakar Tambadou highly praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her hosting the persecuted Rohingyas and extending all the support to them. He expressed his appreciation to the OIC for its support and endorsement to The Gambia to file the case against Myanmar before the ICJ to ensure accountability for the genocide committed against the Rohingya by Myanmar.
He termed that Gambia’s fight against Myanmar is not the fight between two States rather the fight of international community for humanity. He urged international community to extend their political, diplomatic and moral support to ensure justice for the Rohingya genocide victims.
The Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Bob Rae, who visited the Rohingyas’ camp and talked about the grave humanitarian crisis and violation of human rights of Rohingyas, also highly lauded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for hosting around a million persecuted Rohingyas and extending support to them. Referring to the joint statement issued by the governments of Canada and the Netherlands on 9 December 2019 to support The Gambia in all possible means for the case against Myanmar, he urged all governments to extend their support to The Gambia as well.
The Ambassador of UAE, the Charge d’Affaires of Saudi Arabia and Malaysia and OIC representative in their speeches also praised Bangladesh for hosting of the persecuted Rohingya people and assured their support to The Gambia for the case against Myanmar at the ICJ.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands, Sheikh Mohammed Belal, received the guests at the reception on behalf of the host countries of Bangladesh, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia.
The Gambia made today their oral submissions of the case against Myanmar before the ICJ.
