New Delhi-based diplomats call for safe Rohingya return

Envoys of concurrently accredited countries to Bangladesh, based in New Delhi, have called for dignified return and security of the Myanmar nationals who have fled violence in Rakhine State into Bangladesh.

The 15 diplomats made the appeal when they called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her Ganabhaban residence in Dhaka on Sunday evening after visiting a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar.

The ambassadors and high commissioners are of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Mauritius, Portugal, Slovenia, Ukraine, and Kenya who look after Bangladesh affairs but have no mission in Dhaka.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Syed Muazzem Ali was also with them.

The New Delhi-based diplomats, after seeing their condition at the refugee camp, said the sufferings of the Rohingyas are ‘very much painful’.

They put emphasis on consultation to resolve the crisis.

Photo: PID

They said Myanmar authorities must take measures so that the Rohingyas can go back to their place of origin.

The top diplomats also appreciated Hasina for her gesture of humanity by giving shelter to such a huge number of refugees in a well-organised manner.

They observed that the Rohingya crisis was not a problem only for Bangladesh, but it has become an international problem as well.

The envoys told the prime minister that they would report what they saw to their governments.

Hasina reiterated her call for putting more international pressure on the Myanmar government to take back its nationals with security and dignity.

The prime minister noted that Myanmar has signed an agreement with Bangladesh to repatriate their nationals and her government brought the Rohingyas under registration process.

She thanked the international community for their support to Bangladesh on the issue.

Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury and Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim were present.