Bangladesh
Rohingya Crisis International organizations should be allowed to work in Myanmar's Rakhine: PM
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, August 26: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has commented that Myanmar should allow international organizations to work in Rakhine State.
She said, "We have called Myanmar on this issue and also discussed it. But, still no response. We want to solve it. How long can we host this large number of people?"
On Thursday (August 25), UN Secretary General's Special Envoy Nolin Heizer paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister at Ganabhaban. At this time the Prime Minister said this.
After the meeting, Prime Minister's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed the journalists.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister said that an appropriate environment should be created for the dignified return of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas. For this, international organizations should be allowed to work in Rakhine State.
Noting that some of the Rohingyas have already become involved in social crimes - human trafficking and drug abuse, the Prime Minister said they are also destroying the environment of the region.
In this context, recalling the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Agreement, Sheikh Hasina said that after the signing of the agreement in 1997, about 62,000 refugees from India returned to the country.
At that time, the UN Special Envoy said that she had visited the Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar and spoken to them. It is now essential to create an enabling environment for their dignified return to their homeland in Myanmar.
She said that everyone, including UN organizations and NGOs, is working in Rohingya camps.
Appreciating Bangladesh for Rohingya management, Nolin Heizer said Bangladesh needs a lot of support to deal with the Rohingya issue.
Nolin Heizer also said she visited Myanmar and asked the military-ruled government to find a solution to the Rohingya crisis.
She said the matter will be on the agenda of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting to find a solution to the Rohingya crisis. She also emphasized on the ASEAN-Bangladesh initiative to solve the crisis.
