Suu Kyi says her govt is working on taking back refugees

Myanmar has begun to work on taking back the Rohingyas who crossed the border into Bangladesh from its western Rakhine state, says the country’s de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 25 Oct 2017, 06:04 AM
Updated : 25 Oct 2017, 09:47 AM

Her statement came on Wednesday while meeting Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan in Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar.

A ten-member delegation led by Khan attended the hour-long discussion with Suu Kyi, said Home Ministry Public Relations Officer Sharif Mahmud.

The Myanmar state counsellor and leader of the ruling party said her government is working on the repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar.

She also spoke of adopting the recommendations of the Kofi Annan Commission, according to Mahmud.

The home minister invited Suu Kyi for a visit to Bangladesh on behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“She told the home minister that she would make the trip at a time convenient to both countries.”

Khan flew to Naypyidaw on Monday following a Myanmar delegation's Dhaka visit led by Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor Kyaw Tint Swe earlier this month.

On Wednesday, the countries reached a 10-point agreement on the refugees at a meeting between home ministry officials of the two countries, reports local news outlet Mizzima.

The agreement includes “stopping immediately entry by Myanmar nationals into Bangladesh and repatriation of refugees at the earliest date and restoring normalcy in Rakhine Region for their resettlement”.

Both sides also agreed to finish forming of the joint working committee, which was announced in Dhaka early October, by next month to arrange resettlement of displaced Rohingyas.

On Aug 25, Rohingya insurgents attacked 30 police border posts and a military encampment in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. In response, the military began a violent crackdown that forced members of the Rohingya minority to flee across the border to Bangladesh.

Eight weeks later, more than 600,000 Rohingyas have crossed the border and the stream of refugees has yet to cease. Bangladesh is also providing refuge to nearly 400,000 Rohingya refugees who fled across the border at various times in the past few decades.

The fleeing refugees have reported numerous cases of murder, rape and looting.

A recent Human Rights Watch report analysing satellite imagery has said that 288 Rohingya villages have been set aflame since the start of the military operation.

Suu Kyi has described the operation as a ‘fight against militants’, but the UN has called it a case of ‘ethnic cleansing’. The US and the EU are considering new sanctions against Myanmar over the crisis.