Myanmar should allow int’l organizations to work in Rakhine state: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said
Myanmar should allow international organizations to work in the Rakhine state
to create an appropriate environment for the dignified return of the forcibly
displaced Rohingya people.
“Myanmar should allow international organizations to work in the Rakhine
state,” she said while United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for
Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer called on her at the latter’s official residence
Ganabhaban.
Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the
meeting.
“We’re pursuing this with Myanmar and also discussed it. But, no response
has yet come. We want to solve it. How long we can host this huge number of
people?” the Premier was quoted as saying.
Some of the Rohingyas are already involved in criminal activities, including
human trafficking and drug abuse, she said, adding that they are also
destroying the environment in the region.
Recalling the CHT Peace treaty, Sheikh Hasina some 62,000 refugees were
returned home from India after signing the treaty in 1997.
The UN special envoy said that she visited Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar and
had talks with them.
Now, it is essential to create a suitable atmosphere to ensure their
dignified return to Myanmar, she said.
She said all, including the UN agencies and NGOs, are working for Rohingyas
in the camps.
Appreciating Bangladesh for its Rohingya management, she said Bangladesh
needs a lot of support in dealing with the Rohingya issue.
Noeleen Heyzer said she also visited Myanmar and told its military
government to find out a solution to the Rohingya crisis.
She put emphasis on making the Rohingya crisis an agenda in the ASEAN Foreign
Ministers meeting as well as the ASEAN-Bangladesh initiative to resolve the
Rohingya crisis.
Prime Minister’s Ambassador-at-Large Mohammad Ziauddin, Prime Minister’s
Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus and Prime Minister’s Press Secretary
Ihsanul Karim were present at the meeting.
