Rohingya civil rights leader Mohib Ullah killed in Bangladesh

Mohib Ullah, who his aides say was 48, was one of the most high-profile advocates of the Rohingya, a stateless minority from Myanmar who was targeted in a 2017 military attack that killed more than 740,000 was forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. UN investigators have called on Myanmar military leaders to face genocide charges over the attacks.

Members of the organization, led by Mr. Mohib Ullah, said he was shot at around 8:30 pm local time on Wednesday and was declared brought dead at the hospital. He said two men arrived at Mr. Mohib Ullah’s office, where he had gone after the evening prayers with several friends, and at least one opened fire. They did not know who the attackers were and what was the reason for the attack.

Doctors Without Borders confirmed that Mr. Mohib Ullah was taken to the hospital the group operates and said he was dead when he arrived. Bangladesh officials could not immediately be contacted for comment.

Mr. Mohib Ullah served as president of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, a civil-society organization that often represented the Rohingya on an international level. In 2019, he was invited to Geneva to address the United Nations Human Rights Council and later the White House, where he spoke with President Donald Trump as part of a meeting with survivors of religious persecution.

“I want you to imagine something this morning. Imagine you have no identity, no ethnicity, no country, no one wants you,” Mr. Mohib Ullah said in his appeal to the Human Rights Council , for the first time its members heard directly, in person, from Rohingya refugees. “How do you feel? Today we feel as Rohingya.”

Mr. Mohib Ullah’s killing met with shock and grief among many refugees, who respected him as a unified figure, and international human rights advocates who worked closely with him to document the abuse against the group and raise refugee voices . It also underscored the dangerous environment in the world’s largest refugee settlement, where rival groups vie for control.

Human rights groups say insufficient security has enabled gangs involved in drug trafficking and trafficking to flourish in the camps, as well as providing a shelter for an armed group called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. The refugees say rival groups have intimidated residents, intimidated liberal leaders and tried to enforce conservative Islamic norms.

In recent years, Mr. Mohib Ullah has received death threats.

Advocacy groups including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Fortify Rights called on Bangladeshi authorities to investigate Mohib Ullah’s death and protect vulnerable refugees.

“I think it is not only about the death of Mohib Ullah, but also about the total death of our community,” said 37-year-old refugee Ayasul Haq, who lives in the camps and was a friend of Mr. Mohib Ullah . He was our representative and always tried to do positive things for us. He was educated and intelligent, we all respected him.”

This story has been published without modification to the text from a wire agency feed