Bangladesh abstained from voting against Myanmar at UN
The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution calling on the military to stop using deadly weapons and violence against civilians in Myanmar. Bangladesh abstained from voting on the proposal.
The resolution was passed at the UN General Assembly in New York last Friday. With 119 votes in favor of the proposal, only Belarus voted against. 37 countries including Bangladesh, India, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Laos, Thailand and Russia abstained from voting.
The resolution expresses deep concern over the February 1 military coup in Myanmar. Myanmar's military junta has called for the immediate and unconditional release of President Win Mint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other government officials and politicians.
The resolution called on Myanmar's military to lift the state of emergency and respect human rights. It also called on all UN member states to work for arms selling to Myanmar.
Regarding the proposal, the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations said that Bangladesh was dissatisfied with the proposal as it did not recommend any action on Rohingya repatriation.
The proposal was finalized by a core group of UN member states, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Canada, the mission said in a statement on Saturday. In this regard, they have held discussions with ASEAN member countries, who recently attended the Leaders' Conference in Bangkok, including Myanmar's military leaders.
The proposal does not include any recommendations or steps to repatriate Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar. The need to create a conducive environment in Rakhine state for the Rohingya to return home safely, permanently and with dignity was also not mentioned here. The root cause of the Rohingya crisis was also not included here. Bangladesh decided to abstain from voting as these basic issues were not raised in the proposal.