Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman on Sunday said Myanmar government must take actions to protect the human rights of its nationals, Rohingya people.

“Just as the Rohingya issue is viewed internationally, we also see it as an internal problem of Myanmar. The Rohingyas are citizens, a community and people of Myanmar. It is the Myanmar government that ultimately must take steps to protect their human rights,” he said.

The minister made the remarks at a discussion titled ‘Rohingya issue: present reality and future course of action’ arranged by the Centre for Policy Research at the Jatiya Press Club in the city,

He said the Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia’s governments successfully addressed the Rohingya issue and tried to convince Myanmar that the Rohingya people is an integral part of its territory in different times.

But the successive governments couldn’t address the Rohingya issue in the same way, he added.

The law minister said Bangladesh needs to build a national unity alongside securing international support to resolve the Rohingya crisis.

Referring to the keynote speaker’s observation that Bangladesh needs to convince the United States, China and India about the Rohingya issue, he said discussions with those countries are certainly necessary but Bangladeshis must first stand united.

“Before convincing others, the people of Bangladesh must stand together. Irrespective of political affiliations and differences of opinion, we must understand that this land, this Bangladesh, should come first,” he said.

Asaduzzaman said Bangladesh provided shelter to the displaced Rohingyas on humanitarian ground.

“We believe the Rohingya crisis is, on the one hand, an internal crisis of Myanmar, while on the other, the Bangladesh government provided shelter to them and stood by them on humanitarian grounds,” he said, adding that Bangladesh also has a moral responsibility to stand by them under Article 25 of Constitution.

The Rohingyas are culturally and ethnically inhabitants of Myanmar territory and are entitled to certain protections there under international law. “So, we support addressing the issue from that perspective and on that basis,” he said.

Former Bangladesh ambassador to Myanmar Mohammad Sufiur Rahman presented the keynote in the discussion, while Executive Director of the Center for Policy Research Dr Shafiqul Ahmed and its trustee member Prof Sk Tawfique M. Haque and Rohingya women rights activist Razia Sultana, among others, spoke on the occasion.