Rohingya refugees walk through water after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, at a port in Teknaf on Wednesday. — Reuters photo
Bangladesh continued diplomatic move for ensuring return of Rohingyas to their homeland Rakhine State of Myanmar while Rohingya influx into the country continued on Wednesday with thousands of the ethnic minority people fleeing ethnic cleansing in Rakhine.
While a Chinese special envoy was shuttling between Dhaka and Nay Pyi Taw for conveying commitment of the Myanmar government for taking back its nationals, the Bangladesh authorities were yet to trust the Myanmar authorities on the realisation of its commitments soon, officials said.
Bangladesh on Wednesday requested China for her constructive all-round engagement for expediting return of the Myanmar nationals to their home.
The Chinese envoy conveyed that commitment of the Myanmar government ‘is much stronger this time,’ foreign secretary M Shahidul Haque said at his office after a meeting with a Chinese special envoy.
‘We said that we would find it true when they [Myanmar] would implement this commitment,’ he said.
Shahidul Haque said that he told the envoy that there were about 4,00,000 Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh when the envoy came six months ago and now the number of Myanmar nationals was over one million as violence continued in Rakhine State.
Chinese foreign ministry special envoy on Asian affairs Sun Guoxiang arrived Dhaka from Yangon Tuesday night for discussing the resurgence of crisis created with the recent Rohingya influx into Bangladesh.
The Chinese envoy would return to Myanmar again and might convey Bangladesh’s position about the situation, the foreign secretary said.
Sun was told that Bangladesh had no conflict with Myanmar other than one point, repatriation of Myanmar nationals.
Presence of over a million Rohingyas is a huge burden on Bangladesh, which has allowed them only on humanitarian grounds, Shahiduyl Haque said, ‘It cannot linger for unlimited period.’
Asked if China was mediating between Bangladesh and Myanmar, he said that the question of mediation had not come as such as China said that it wanted a peaceful solution to the crisis through bilateral negotiations.
China wants to settle the situation working with both Bangladesh and Myanmar, the foreign secretary said.
Asked if Chinese envoy communicated any new message, he said China was very eager to see a peaceful solution as existing situation was unfavourable for Asia in general and the region in particular.
The Chinese envoy would have not been shuttling between the two countries if the situation was good for the region, he said.
Another diplomat said that Bangladesh officials said China should help to resolve the crisis although China had its own dynamics in engaging with Myanmar.
Earlier in the morning on Wednesday, the foreign secretary and senior foreign ministry officials were engaged in an interactive session on Rohingya issues with mission chiefs of the member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the BRICS.
Shahidul also held a meeting with Saudi ambassador Abdullah HM Al-Mutairi on Rohingya issues, the officials said.
The Bangladesh side sought support of the OECD and BRICS member countries and the Arab kingdom in international moves for holding a special session of the UN Human Rights Council at the earliest to exclusively discuss Rohingya issues.
Support of at least 16 of the 45 member-countries is required for holding a special session of the UNHRC.
Bangladesh also insisted that the UNHRC member countries should consider adopting resolutions in this regard.
Mission chiefs of the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, India, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Vatican, among others, were present in the meeting.
After the meeting with mission chiefs and the OECD and BRICS member countries, Chinese ambassador to Dhaka Ma Mingqiang said at the foreign ministry that the way China engaged herself in diplomacy was different from many other countries.
‘We don’t make noise like many other countries,’ he said.
Both Bangladesh and Myanmar ‘are friends of China and we want the two countries engage for a peaceful solution of the problem through bilateral negotiations,’ Ma said.
The Rohingya new arrivals on Wednesday alleged that the Myanmar military forces set fire to their villages at Buthidaung three days before amidst international outcry against the Myanmar regime for stopping ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State.
Over 6,04,000 minority Rohingyas, mostly women, children and aged people, entered Bangladesh fleeing unbridled murder, arson and rape during ‘security operations’ by Myanmar military in Rakhine, what the United Nations denounced as ethnic cleansing, between August 25 and October 24.
Then new ongoing influx took the total number of undocumented Myanmar nationals and registered refugees in Bangladesh to over 10,23,000 till Tuesday, according to estimates of UN agencies.
During his last visit in Dhaka in the last week of April, Sun Guoxiang insisted in line with the Myanmar government’s position that Bangladesh and Myanmar should bilaterally resolve the matter of return of all Myanmar nationals.
Sun Guoxiang is also actively involved in the Chinese government’s efforts to promote peace process involving minority groups in Myanmar.
Source: New Age
