Rohingya Return To Rakhine: Work more to create right environment
Expecting to see the commencement of Rohingya repatriation before September, Bangladesh has urged the UN to work more in Rakhine State of Myanmar to help create a conducive environment so that the Rohingyas can return to their place of origin.
“‘You should work more in Rakhine rather than in Bangladesh.’ I conveyed this,” Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters at his office.
Momen said he had conveyed the message to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the UN agencies during his recent meetings in New York.
The minister also highlighted how the entire region would be affected if the problem remained unresolved.
“The UN Secretary General is very keen to see a solution to the Rohingya crisis as quickly as possible,” Momen said.
He hoped that the first batch of Rohingya repatriation would begin before September.
“But everything depends on Myanmar, which created the problem…”
After Bangladesh’s extensive discussions with China, Myanmar is showing a kind of willingness over repatriation, he said.
“They [Myanmar] also invited me. I said I’ll surely visit.”
A Myanmar delegation is coming to visit the Rohingya camps and talk to the refugees.
He had asked the Myanmar side to come and give assurance to Rohingyas living in Cox’s Bazar camps.
He said Bangladesh does not have any enmity with any country and Myanmar is a friend of Bangladesh. “But an accident [Rohingya exodus] has taken place.”
Antonio Guterres and Foreign Minister Dr Momen had a meeting in New York last week when Guterres said he had been putting in his best efforts to find a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis.
The UN chief expressed concern over the Rohingya issue and thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the people of Bangladesh for their generosity in hosting a large number of Rohingyas population on humanitarian ground.
Bangladesh is currently hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas.
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