Bangladesh and Myanmar meet to discuss Rohingya crisis

A Bangladesh government delegation is meeting with representatives of the Myanmar government in Dhaka to discuss the Rohingya crisis amid mounting international pressure.

The meeting began at the state guest house Padma at 10:45am on Monday.

The Myanmar delegation was led by Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor of Myanmar Kyaw Tint Swe. The Bangladeshi delegation includes Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Kamal.

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State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque and BGB Chief Secretary Major General Abul Hossain are also present at the meeting.

Nearly half a million Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh since the start of a military crackdown in the Myanmar border state of Rakhine.

The refugees have claimed the Myanmar security forces are shooting at civilians, setting fire to their homes and raping Rohingya women.

Myanmar’s de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to restoring democracy to the country, sent the minister of her office to Bangladesh amid international pressure over the crisis, which the UN has called an ‘ethnic cleansing’.

Despite her party's win in 2015's elections, the Myanmar Army controls the majority of the government, including the defence authorities.