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Bangladesh asks UNHCR again to work at "source of problem" with Rohingyas
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)
DHAKA, May 27 (BSS)- Bangladesh today asked once again the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) to work at the "source country of the problem" in returning Rohingyas back to their home as the UN agency is set to host a conference on the issue at Indonesian island of Bali.
"The UNHCR must focus on the root of the problem and work with the source country for the refugee repatriation," an official statement quoted food and disaster management minister Abdur Razzak as telling the regional representative of the UN refugee agency James Lynch as he called on him at his office.
He added: "From which country they (Rohingyas) came from and why they have come should the factor to be addressed," an official statement quoted food minister.
The minister said Bangladesh have sheltered the Rohingyas for the past 20 years despite its constraints but it now appeared extremely difficult to bear the burden.
Razzak's comments came as Lynch told him that the UN refugee agency said it planned to call soon two international conferences in Bali of Indonesia and Thailand to discuss refugee issues and transnational crimes.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in December last year visited Myanmar when she asked Myanmar president U Thein Sein for
"early resolution of the issue of refugee repatriation to help strengthen the bilateral relations to a great extent" as it is believed to have soured the bilateral ties for decades.
Bangladesh earlier visibly toughened its stance for the repatriation of a few of lakh of "undocumented" Myanmar nationals asking UNHCR to stay away from them and deal with the registered 28,000 Rohingya refugees alone.
Dhaka also asked the UN body to put in its efforts to create
a "congenial" living atmosphere inside Myanmar for their repatriation as media reports said Saudi Arabia offered financial supports for feeding the Rohingyas in Bangladesh through UNHCR while the United States proposed funding for both the registered and unregistered Rohingyas living in Bangladesh.
The foreign office earlier said that besides the registered ones, several lakhs of Myanmar nationals intruded Bangladesh and were spreading in numbers, whom it tended to call as "illegal economic migrants" or "economic burden".
Dhaka also sought to use good office of China, a crucial ally of the isolated East Asian country, for the settlement of the Rohingya issue.
Some 260,000 Muslim refugees belonging to Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority group fled their country to take refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh amid reported repression by the then Myanmar junta in 1991 while the exodus took place in massive scales in two subsequent phases.
The Myanmar authorities agreed to take back its nationals under UNHCR brokered agreement in mid-1992 though some of the refugees repatriated on earlier occasions had sneaked back into Bangladesh.
But the repatriation process virtually remained stalled for years reportedly for apparent reluctance on the part of the Myanmar authorities, causing protracted refuge of several thousand Rohingyas while their number multiplied in subsequent years.
Foreign ministry and overseas employment ministry officials earlier alleged many Rohingyas at different times went to different Middle Eastern countries identifying them as Bangladeshis and causing problems for genuine expatriate Bangladeshis with their "illegal activities".
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)
DHAKA, May 27 (BSS)- Bangladesh today asked once again the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) to work at the "source country of the problem" in returning Rohingyas back to their home as the UN agency is set to host a conference on the issue at Indonesian island of Bali.
"The UNHCR must focus on the root of the problem and work with the source country for the refugee repatriation," an official statement quoted food and disaster management minister Abdur Razzak as telling the regional representative of the UN refugee agency James Lynch as he called on him at his office.
He added: "From which country they (Rohingyas) came from and why they have come should the factor to be addressed," an official statement quoted food minister.
The minister said Bangladesh have sheltered the Rohingyas for the past 20 years despite its constraints but it now appeared extremely difficult to bear the burden.
Razzak's comments came as Lynch told him that the UN refugee agency said it planned to call soon two international conferences in Bali of Indonesia and Thailand to discuss refugee issues and transnational crimes.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in December last year visited Myanmar when she asked Myanmar president U Thein Sein for
"early resolution of the issue of refugee repatriation to help strengthen the bilateral relations to a great extent" as it is believed to have soured the bilateral ties for decades.
Bangladesh earlier visibly toughened its stance for the repatriation of a few of lakh of "undocumented" Myanmar nationals asking UNHCR to stay away from them and deal with the registered 28,000 Rohingya refugees alone.
Dhaka also asked the UN body to put in its efforts to create
a "congenial" living atmosphere inside Myanmar for their repatriation as media reports said Saudi Arabia offered financial supports for feeding the Rohingyas in Bangladesh through UNHCR while the United States proposed funding for both the registered and unregistered Rohingyas living in Bangladesh.
The foreign office earlier said that besides the registered ones, several lakhs of Myanmar nationals intruded Bangladesh and were spreading in numbers, whom it tended to call as "illegal economic migrants" or "economic burden".
Dhaka also sought to use good office of China, a crucial ally of the isolated East Asian country, for the settlement of the Rohingya issue.
Some 260,000 Muslim refugees belonging to Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority group fled their country to take refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh amid reported repression by the then Myanmar junta in 1991 while the exodus took place in massive scales in two subsequent phases.
The Myanmar authorities agreed to take back its nationals under UNHCR brokered agreement in mid-1992 though some of the refugees repatriated on earlier occasions had sneaked back into Bangladesh.
But the repatriation process virtually remained stalled for years reportedly for apparent reluctance on the part of the Myanmar authorities, causing protracted refuge of several thousand Rohingyas while their number multiplied in subsequent years.
Foreign ministry and overseas employment ministry officials earlier alleged many Rohingyas at different times went to different Middle Eastern countries identifying them as Bangladeshis and causing problems for genuine expatriate Bangladeshis with their "illegal activities".
