Home boss leaves for Myanmar

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan left Dhaka for Myanmar yesterday to hold talks with leaders of the neighbouring country on various issues, including the Rohingya crisis, aiming to send back Myanmar nationals to their homeland through diplomatic efforts.

The minister, who left Dhaka on a Biman flight around 12:45pm, was leading a 12-member delegation.

The delegation includes two secretaries of the home ministry, director generals of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Bangladesh Coast Guard and Department of Narcotics Control and the inspector general of police.

Sources at the home ministry said the Rohingya issue would be high on the agenda of the Bangladesh-Myanmar meeting. During talks, Bangladesh will press Myanmar to take back its nationals who were forced to flee their homeland.

Apart from signing of several memorandums of understanding, border-related issues, including drug smuggling, would come up for discussion, said Md Sharif Mahmud Apu, public relations officer of the home ministry.

On October 2, Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to form a joint working group to start the repatriation of all the Rohingyas living in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has also proposed signing a bilateral agreement with Myanmar to facilitate the implementation of repatriation process.

A draft of the proposed deal has also been handed over to Myanmar officials at a meeting.

Bangladesh has laid emphasis on implementation of the Kofi Annan-led commission's recommendations to resolve the Rohingya issue peacefully.

Fleeing violence in Rakhine State, more than six lakh Rohingyas have entered Bangladesh since August 25.