A Rohingya Muslim woman and her son cry after being caught by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) while illegally crossing at a border check point in Cox’s Bazar on November 21, 2016.
The Bangladesh government on Wednesday summoned Myanmar ambassador Myo Myint Than and conveyed deep concern at the continued deteriorating situation in the Rakhine state that caused influx in which thousands of distressed Myanmar’s citizens including women, children and elderly people entered
into Bangladesh.
Thousands more have been reported to have gathered at the border for sneaking into Bangladesh territory, the ambassador was told.
Myanmar ambassador Myo Myint Than was called to the foreign ministry to meet the secretary (bilateral and consular) Kamrul Ahsan, who handed over a note verbale to the ambassador containing Bangladesh’s concern.
Secretary Ahsan expressed the government’s deep concern at the continued deteriorating situation in the Rakhine state of Myanmar due to ongoing actions of the Myanmar armed forces causing dire consequences to the people and implications for Bangladesh.
The secretary informed the ambassador that desperate people from the Rakhine state ‘are entering’ to Bangladesh due to humanitarian situation seeking safety and shelter across borders. Despite Bangladesh’s border guards’ effort to prevent the influx, thousands of distressed Myanmar’s citizens including women, children and elderly people ‘continue’ to cross border into Bangladesh.
The secretary requested Myanmar to ‘assist’ Bangladesh to ensure the integrity of the border to prevent influx of people from Rakhine into Bangladesh.
He further requested the ambassador to request the Myanmar government to take urgent appropriate measures so that Muslim minorities in the Rakhine state ‘are not forced’ to seek shelter across the border.
He also urged Myanmar to take urgent measures to bring back normalcy in the turbulent state so that those who have already crossed the border and those who are waiting to cross the border, along with internally displaced people ‘can go back’ to their villages without fear and with safety and dignity to pursue their normal life.
The government also urged Myanmar to give due consideration to the demand of the international community to conduct impartial investigation on the alleged indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force and human rights violation during the ongoing military operation in the Rakhine state.
Rule of law and due judicial process should be allowed to function in the state without hindrance, the secretary said.
He also protested against the tendency in the Myanmar media seeking to implicate Bangladesh into the incidents in Myanmar.
Ambassador Myo Myint Than maintained silence when New Age wanted to know from him, after the meeting, what steps the Myanmar government would take to improve situation in Myanmar that would help stop influx into Bangladesh.
Myint Than reiterated the Myanmar government’s formal position about the influx and claimed reports in the media about the influx were ‘fabricated’ stories.
The ambassador, however, said he would convey the Bangladesh government’s position to his government.
– See more at: http://www.newagebd.net/article/3412/rohingya-influx-myanmar-envoy-summoned#sthash.8w7hwOQp.dpuf
Source: New Age
