Allocation for Rohingyas in next budget: Muhith

The government will allocate funds for the Rohingyas in the next budget as all the financing needed to feed them will not come from international sources while uncertainty over their return is growing.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said a proposal has already been received from the Prime Minister's Office about the allocation of the funds for the Rohingyas.

The amount has not been fixed yet, and an estimate will be made within a month on the basis of the proposal, he told reporters at his secretariat office yesterday.

He made the remarks after a meeting with a four-member UK team led by Stephen Twigg, chair of the Commons International Development Committee.

Muhith said an accommodation is being built at Bhasanchar, a remote island near Hatiya, where the Rohingyas who came to Bangladesh before the latest crisis unfolded would be rehabilitated.

Fresh infiltrators from Myanmar will also be taken there, according to the minister.

He said the international community has provided generous assistance so far but there is doubt how long it would continue.

The minister also said the UK team was denied entry to Myanmar and he had detailed discussion on the Rohingya issue with the delegation.

Muhith expressed doubt whether the government's move to repatriate the Rohingyas to Myanmar would succeed. Bangladesh would have to bear the brunt of the Rohingya inflow, he added.