(New York) “They don’t act. They speak, but they do not act”. Faced with the unfulfilled climate promises of the rich countries, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina is impatient: they are responsible for the damage “but do nothing, it is a tragedy”.
Posted at 10:09 a.m.
“Rich countries just want to get richer and even richer, they don’t bother with others,” she said in an interview with AFP on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
A country of deltas, Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, on the front line in particular in the face of rising sea levels and increasing flooding.
But like much of the developing world, it is not responsible for global warming, which has risen nearly 1.2°C on average since pre-industrial times.
“We are not emitters (of greenhouse gases), but we are victims of these emissions and of global warming”, insists the Prime Minister.
“It’s very unfortunate,” she continues, highlighting in particular the “risks” and “suffering” of small island states which “could disappear”.
Faced with growing threats, governments in the South regularly denounce the empty promises of developed countries, in particular the broken commitment to increase their aid to 100 billion dollars a year in 2020 so that the poorest countries can reduce their emissions and prepare for impact.
But the hot topic two months before the COP27 climate conference in Egypt concerns the “loss and damage” already suffered, such as the devastation caused by the historic floods in Pakistan, and the demand for a fund to compensate for it.
“We applied for this fund. We want this money to be raised, but unfortunately we have not had a positive response from developed countries”, regrets the Prime Minister. They simply got a “dialogue” on this subject until 2024.
” Burden “
“They talk, but they don’t act,” she denounces. “They talk a lot, they make promises, everything is fine, but we don’t see any action, we don’t see any money.”
However, “it is the responsibility of the developed countries”, “it is their duty to help the victims”.
Despite everything, she assures us that she will do “the best she can, on her own”, even without international aid. On the climate issue as in the sensitive issue of stateless Rohingya refugees.
Around 750,000 Rohingya fled army abuses in Burma and sought asylum in neighboring Bangladesh in 2017, where there were already more than 100,000 refugees, victims of previous violence.
For the most part Muslims, they survive, crammed into unsanitary camps sheltered by shacks made of tarpaulins, sheet metal and bamboo and refuse to return to Burma (Myanmar), which is predominantly Buddhist, until they have obtained citizenship rights.
During a visit in August, Michelle Bachelet, who was then High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN, considered that the conditions for their return to Burma were not met, despite repeated requests from Bangladesh.
“The whole burden is on us”, denounces Sheikh Hasina.
Yes, they live in “painful” conditions in the camps in Bangladesh, “especially the women and children”, but “the local population also suffers”, she declares, regretting the drop in international aid due to economic crises related to COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.
While the High Commissioner for Human Rights had pointed to a “growing anti-Rohingya rhetoric” in her country, she assures that her fellow citizens “are not angry, but they are uncomfortable”.
As for allowing the Rohingyas to settle in more permanent conditions, “it is not possible to give them space, because they want to return to their country”, she argues. “It’s everyone’s priority”, “we must all try to ensure that they find their land and live their life”.
“If someone wants to welcome them, let them welcome them,” says the Prime Minister.