“The international community should continue mounting pressure on Myanmar to take its displaced nationals back from Bangladesh,” Karim quoted Hasina as saying.
After the signing of an ‘instrument’ on the repatriation of the Rohingyas during Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali’s visit to Myanmar, the country said it will take back the refugees who fled violence in Rakhine State following army operations launched in October last year and August this year. After Myanmar Army launched an operation in response to insurgent attacks on security forces on Oct 6 last year, around 67,000 Rohingyas crossed the border, taking the number of refugees in Bangladesh to around 400,000.
When the army launched a similar operation after the attack on Aug 25, more than 620,000 Rohingyas have crossed the border.
The UN has called the operation ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’, citing reports of killings and rapes.The prime minister told the UN official that Bangladesh sheltered the Rohingyas on humanitarian grounds.
“But it is not possible for Bangladesh to shelter them for a long time,” she added, according to Karim.
Noting that Bangladesh suffered flash floods earlier this year, she said the Rohingya crisis became an ‘extra burden’ for Bangladesh.
The locals in Cox’s Bazar, where the Rohingyas have camped, are also in troubles after the exodus started.
In the UN General Assembly two months ago, Sheikh Hasina had said, “Bangladesh would share meals with the refugees if necessary.”
Speaking with Fekitamoeloa on Wednesday, Hasina also highlighted the achievements of Bangladesh in women empowerment, rural and agricultural development, and poverty alleviation.
She also mentioned Bangladesh’s progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals after successes in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
The UN under-secretary hailed Bangladesh’s development and said the country becoming a lower middle-income country from a low-income country was a result of the UN efforts.
Fekitamoeloa also said the UN should not stop assistance to Bangladesh when it becomes a middle-income country.
Citing her, the PM’s press secretary said the UN was revisiting rules and laws about how to provide the assistance to every individual country even after its graduation to a middle-income country.
The Prime Minister’s International Affairs Adviser Gowher Rizvi and Principal Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury were also present at the meeting.
Source: Bdnews24.