It goes without saying that we are in agreement with Adama Dieng, UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, who did not mince his words when he said that the international community, including the UN, has failed to protect the Rohingya people. This fact has been clear all along but now that a UN official has said it out loud, there should be no further confusion about the international community's failure to live up to its duty.

It is hugely disappointing that almost seven months into the latest round of mass influx of Rohingyas into Bangladesh, no concrete action has been taken to bring about a safe environment in Rakhine for the repatriation of the refugees. We strongly believe that the next step forward should be to refer Myanmar's atrocities to the International Criminal Court for prosecution. And here, UNSC will play the most crucial role as it has the authority to refer Myanmar to the prosecutor of the ICC. However, the prospect of China and Russia casting veto on the resolution makes it challenging.

However, as Mr Dieng has said, this is a critical time to exert pressure on Myanmar. And China and India should exert all the means available to them to bring forth justice for a minority which has been the target of a longstanding campaign of genocide. Bangladesh, which is hosting over a million Rohingya refugees, cannot continue to suffer.

If Myanmar's referral to the ICC through UNSC does not materialise, the next best thing for Bangladesh to do would be to self-refer to the ICC as an affected party. Bangladesh cannot go on shouldering such a monumental humanitarian burden. The time for rhetoric and lip service is up. All eyes should now be on robustly pursuing the agenda of delivering justice for the Rohingyas, including bringing the perpetrators of the genocide to book.