Three Women Nobel Laureates Visit Bangladesh, Fight For Rohingya Cause

At a time when the world witnessed completion of six-month period since Bangladesh got embroiled in the worst Rohingya persecution yet, three women Nobel laureates’ weeklong tour to Dhaka and refugee camps came as a much-needed solace to oppressed humanity.

At the end of February they started a visit to Bangladesh, a country that has been playing host to over a million Rohingya people forced out from their native Rakhine state in Myanmar. The three Nobel peace laureates – Tawakkol Karman of Yemen, Shirin Ebadi of Iran and Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland – called for an immediate end to the genocide in Rakhine against Rohingya people.

“We can’t remain silent. If we remain silent, we’re indeed complacent with this cruelties and crimes,” Maguire said at a press brief in Dhaka during their visit.She said they accuse Myanmar and its military of committing genocide and demanded that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes be brought to justice at the International Criminal Court.

They called on their fellow laureate Aung San SuuKyi and the Myanmar military to put an end to the killings and the persecution of Rohingya people. “She must stop turning a deaf ear to the persecution of the Rohingya or risk being complicit in the crimes. Wake up or face prosecution,” said Karman. The Nobel laureates, as women committed to peace, urged SuuKyi to exercise her personal and moral responsibility to stop the genocide. “If she fails to do so, her choice is clear: resign or be held accountable, along with the army commanders, for the crimes committed,” Karman said. “Time has come to break [the] silence. We need help to make sure our voices are heard,” Shirin Ebadi said at the same press brief event.