Justice will be done for Rohingya atrocities: Canada PM’s envoy Bob Rae

The Canadian Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to Myanmar Bob Rae has asserted that justice will be done for Rohingya atrocities whatever the time it takes.

“Those who believe that there will be no accountability, there will be no conclusions drawn, I don’t agree with that. Whether it takes a year, two years, five years, 10 years, justice will be done,” he said in Dhaka on Tuesday.

He also suggested a “transitional plan” for Rohingyas living in Bangladesh before they are repatriated to their place of origin in Rakhine State in a “safe, dignified and voluntary” manner.

He made those comments while speaking at a panel discussion on the potential long-term implication of Rohingya crisis jointly organised by the Canadian High Commission in Dhaka and Reading Club Trust.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, Canadian High Commissioner Benoit Prefontaine, and former ambassador Humayun Kabir were also present, among others.

This is the fifth visit of Rae to the camps after the Aug 2017 ethnic cleansing that forced over 700,000 Roihngyas out of the Rakhine State.

He commended Bangladesh for the extraordinary measures so far taken to improve their conditions of living in the camps.

He said those who said there is no progress since then, “they need to put in some perspective how we define progress”.

The special envoy said none of this progress would have been made unless the help of the people and the government of Bangladesh.

“World needs to understand and appreciate how extraordinary this demonstration of humanitarian has been and continues to be.

“And while I know the burden is heavy and the political challenge is great. And what your government has to go through, I would say it’s miraculous.”

Rae said there would have been a huge human cost had Bangladesh not taken measures.

“There needs to be accountability for what has taken place. Those who are responsible for the atrocities need to face justice.

“And we have made some progress in terms of process. We have made some advances going forward at the UN, at the International Criminal Court and we are going to continue to make progress,” Rae said.