Dhaka Lit Fest voices concern for Rohingyas, urges assistance

Dhaka: The Dhaka Lit Fest has backed the Rohingyas, urging the global community to support these refugees from Myanmar and “to hold accountable those who have orchestrated the violence leading to this catastrophe”.

Since August 26, over 600,000 Rohingyas have been forced to take exile in neighbouring Bangladesh.

The signatories include celebrated Syrian poet Adonis, Academy award-winning actress Tilda Swinton, Booker prize winning novelist Ben Okri, playwright David Hare, historian William Dalrymple, writer Lionel Shriver, and Bangladeshi literary icons Syed Manzoorul Islam and Kaiser Haq, among over 40 other participants.

“This is one of the largest forced migrations in recent times, and puts the Rohingya as a community at risk of extinction from their native Arakan province,” it said.     

“The participants in the Dhaka Lit Fest express sympathy for the refugees, and wish to keep the news of this unfolding situation at the forefront of global consciousness, as the situation in the refugee camps precipitates what could be an even larger humanitarian crisis due to disease and malnutrition...,” it added.