Members of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association participated in the
international conference ‘Genocide and Justice with a special focus
on the Rohingya persecution’ held at the Liberation War Museum in
Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. They also participated in meetings
in other Bangladeshi cities.
The conference was opened by the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr
A.K. Abdul Momen and attended by academics and activists from the
countries of South Asia and beyond.
It took place on 16-18 November 2019. The discussions covered a broad
spectrum of topics related to genocide and human rights.
In her speech during the concluding ceremony Natalia Sineaeva
remembered the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto. She stressed: - ‘It is
our task, genocide scholars, museum workers, and human rights
activists to apply the experience of the past atrocities to prevent
future violence and to address contemporary examples of human rights
violations.’ Natalia Sineaeva (who is a Rotary Peace Fellow Alumni
and IEP Peace Ambassador) was also a panelist during a conference
session on ‘Ensuring Justice through Art Forms and Memorialisation’
where she presented several case studies of genocide museums and
memory sites in Europe and Asia.
‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association co-founder and Collegium Civitas
Professor Rafal Pankowski provided a presentation entitled: ‘The
Holocaust in Poland and Genocide in Asia: Does the Tragic Past Bring
Us Closer?’ Among other things, he highlighted the current ‘White
Rose’ initiative of Buddhist Burmese youth in solidarity with the
persecuted Muslims in Myanmar. It was apparently inspired by the
anti-Nazi resistance group under the same name during the Third
Reich.
Ven. Thirasattho Bhikkhu Lablu Barua, a Buddhist scholar and peace
activist based in Thailand (a PhD candidate at the
Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University and an IEP Peace
Ambassador) who is a longtime friend of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’
Association also actively participated in the conference
discussions. He emphasized the importance of intercultural
understanding and awareness in addressing conflict and warned against
the frequent manipulation of religion by extremist propaganda.
Moreover, members of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ partook in a number of
meetings with Bangladeshi intellectuals and community leaders
discussing future cooperation. It included a meeting with Shahriar
Kabir, the president of the Forum for Secular Bangladesh and Trial of
War Criminals of 1971 and general secretary of the South Asian
People’s Union against Fundamentalism & Communalism. The
veteran writer, journalist and film maker reminisced how the
knowledge about the Holocaust and World War II in Poland inspired him
in his quest for justice for the victims of the 1971 genocide in
Bangladesh.
The representatives of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ also joined in an activity
organized by Mohra Century Morning Friends - a unique project in the
southern city of Chittagong bringing together members of the Muslim,
Hindu, Buddhist and Christian communities of all ages through joint
sports and music activities in a region threatened by communal
strife and conflict.
Importantly, members of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ visited one of the world’s
largest refugee camps located in the region of Cox’s Bazaar near
the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Rohingya refugees from
Myanmar are survivors of the ongoing genocidal campaign conducted by
the Myanmar military. They have been described by the United Nations
as the world’s most persecuted ethnic minority. Bangladesh accepted
almost one million Rohingya refugees in the recent years. During the
visit, representatives of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ met with refugees as well
as medical personnel and workers of humanitarian organizations. They
talked about the most pressing needs and challenges of life in the
camp as well as ways to express solidarity.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent organization
established in Warsaw in 1996. ‘NEVER AGAIN’ has campaigned
against racism, antisemitism and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural
dialogue and human rights both in Poland and internationally.
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