Rohingya Repatriation: Bangladesh seeks Cambodia’s support

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has laid emphasis on a peaceful solution to the Rohingya crisis as Bangladesh seeks Cambodia’s support for early repatriation of the forcibly-displaced Myanmar nationals temporarily sheltered in Bangladesh.

Chair of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Muhammad Faruk Khan, met the Cambodian Prime Minister at Peace Palace in Phnom Penh yesterday afternoon to seek support for the early repatriation of Rohingyas.

He also highlighted the negative consequences of the prolonged stay of Rohingyas in Bangladesh and the Asean countries and beyond, according to the ministry of foreign affairs.

Highlighting the humanitarian gesture of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Faruk Khan briefed the four-point policy direction of the PM to her Cambodian counterpart.

He sought support from Cambodia -- an important member country of Asean -- for early, safe and sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas.

The Cambodian prime minister mentioned that mutual naming of roads in Phnom Pen and Dhaka after the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the late King of Cambodia Norodom Sihanouk would strengthen bilateral relationship between the two countries.

They also discussed other bilateral issues, including trade, agriculture and tourism.

Addressing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as his “elder sister”, Prime Minister Hun Sen referred to her visit to Cambodia in December 2017 and his visit to Bangladesh in June 2014, and mentioned that these two visits have taken the bilateral relations to a new height.

Faruk Khan mentioned that Bangladesh would organise events in Cambodia during ‘Mujib Year’ -- from March 2020 to March 2021 -- marking the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Faruk Khan and the delegation met the president of the Senate, first vice president of the National Assembly and attended a working meeting with the chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the National Assembly of Cambodia.

In all meetings, Faruk Khan urged Cambodian leaders to put pressure on Myanmar so that it takes its residents back.

Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Golam Faruk Khandakar Prince, Md Abdul Majid Khan, Nahim Razzaq; Bangladesh Ambassador to Cambodia (resident in Bangkok) Md Nazmul Quaunine and high officials from Cambodian Government were also present at the meetings.