Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the International Organisation on Migration (IMO) to pressure Myanmar to take back the Rohingya refugees.
The PM made the call during a meeting with IOM Director General William Lacy Swing at the Grand Hyatt hotel in New York on Tuesday evening, said Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque.
“The PM said that the refugees must return to their countries and asked for international pressure on Myanmar to begin the repatriation process,” Shahidul Haque said after the meeting.
More than 400,000 Rohingyas, mostly Muslim, have fled Myanmar to escape the ‘ethnic cleansing’ campaign by the country’s military, in response to an insurgent attack on dozens of police posts and an army base on August 25.
The IOM director general thanked Bangladesh for giving refuge to the Rohingyas and said he would be visiting the country in October
Director Lacy said all stakeholders are trying to urge Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi to end the persecution and take back the refugees, said the foreign secretary.
The Rohingya issue was also discussed at a brief meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following the meeting with the OIC Core Committee, the foreign affairs secretary said.
The PM also met Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid on Wednesday morning. She also participated in bilateral talks with Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.
Source: The Daily Ittefaq
