US supports only voluntary return of Rohingyas: State dept official

A US state department official has said in Dhaka that his country acknowledges the efforts Bangladesh has made in dealing with the Rohingya crisis but is supportive to 'only the voluntary return' of the refugees to the Rakhine State.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 30 Jan 2018, 02:36 PM
Updated : 30 Jan 2018, 02:53 PM

Deputy Assistance Secretary of State Dan Rosenblum, speaking in Dhaka on Tuesday, also said Washington would continue speaking out as part of putting pressure on the Myanmar government to solve the crisis.

“We strongly applaud the government of Bangladesh’s generosity in taking the Rohingya refugees and giving them shelter,” Rosenblum, who looks after the department's south and central Asian affairs, said.

“We are also supportive to the (Bangladesh’s) efforts to cooperate with Myanmar to discuss repatriation process provided that, of course, that ensures only those who want to voluntary return home are able to do so,” he said at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies or BIISS.

“And they can do so in safety and dignity. If these principles are applied, we strongly support that process going forward,” he said while speaking on the ‘US and the Indo-Pacific region’ at the dialogue organised by the BIISS.

About 700,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh after the Myanmar military cracked down on the Muslim minority in response to militant attacks on security forces on Aug 25.

The United Nations described the operation as the ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas, an allegation Myanmar denies.

Representatives of different embassies including China and Russia, former ambassadors of Bangladesh, think-tank, academia and researchers were present, among others, at the programme chaired by Munshi Faiz Ahmed, Chairman, Board of Directors, of BIISS.

Rosenblum also welcomed the commitment made by the leaderships in Burma to accept the return of refugees when it is safe.

“We continue to call upon the government of Myanmar to create the conditions in Rakhine State that will facilitate the safe return of refugees.

“We’ll keep speaking out. We’ll continue providing our assistance and also keep recognising the sacrifice Bangladesh has made in dealing with the terrible crisis,” he said.

Speaking on the Indo-Pacific region, he said, the US was exploring “deeper partnerships” on both security and infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region with the like-minded countries including Japan, India, Australia.

“And we welcome other countries that want to advance prosperity and security, and strengthen the rule of law in the region to join with us,” he said.

“The more we all coordinate on issues like maritime domain awareness, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, cybersecurity and economic development, the more the nations in the Indo-Pacific benefit.

“Concerted effort by many partners will be needed if we are to connect this vast region in the interests of common prosperity and opportunity,” he said.

Replying to a question, he said, their efforts to deepen the engagements in the region was not to contain China as interpreted by the many analysts.

“We are not asking countries to choose between ours and someone else. We are affirming the importance of national sovereignty regarding how would you arrange your relationships with the rest of the world,” he said.

He, however, in his written statement stressed on the freedom of the seas, peaceful resolution of territorial and maritime disputes by international law, referring to the South China Sea on which China has disputes with its neighbours.

He said the strength of the Indo-Pacific region has always been the “varied and complex” interactions among diverse peoples, governments, economies, and cultures.

“The United States is committed to working with any nation in South Asia or the broader region that shares our vision of a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific where sovereignty is upheld and a rules-based system respected,” he said.

“We look forward to working with Bangladesh and other like-minded nations to realize our shared goals of building a more prosperous, secure, and interconnected Indo-Pacific.”

US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat, who was also present during the dialogue, added that: “We have all of us overlapping relations, but to suggest that one relationship is objectively more important than the others would be extremely short-sighted”.

“History will measure our argument that we should never make that mistake,” she said.