Johnson tells Hasina Britain favours ‘quick’ return of Rohingyas to Myanmar

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said the UK favours a ‘quick’ repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar in a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, an official says.

Senior CorrespondentSenior correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 Feb 2018, 06:14 PM
Updated : 9 Feb 2018, 08:20 PM

The UK leader called on Hasina at the Ganabhaban after arriving in Dhaka on Friday.

“The British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said a delay in deporting the Rohingyas might complicate the issue,” the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told reporters.

Hasina agreed with Johnson and said Myanmar’s de facto head of the government Aung San Suu Kyi should also take quick steps to speed up the deportation process.

She said Myanmar should also allow the UNHCR and other international agencies to observe the rehabilitation process of the Rohingya people after the repatriation.  

Johnson praised Hasina for sheltering the Rohingya refugees, Ihsanul said. 

The government signed a deal with Myanmar last month over the repatriation of the nearly 700,000 Rohingyas who have fled violence in Rakhine State into Bangladesh since August last year.

Many of the international agencies have expressed concern over the deal, saying the refugees might be forced to return to the place of persecution.

Ihsanul said Hasina and Johnson also discussed the attack on the Bangladesh High Commission in London on Wednesday before the court verdict on a graft case against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Johnson told Hasina they were ‘looking into the matter’, the prime minister’s press secretary said.

The Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Gowher Rizvi, Principal Secretary Nojibur Rahman, PMO Secretary Sajjadul Hassan and British High Commissioner Alison Blake were also present.

Later, the British Foreign Office in a statement said during their hour-long meeting, they discussed the upcoming Commonwealth Summit in London in April and additional trade opportunities between the two countries once the UK leaves the European Union.

They also discussed the importance of free and fair elections, and the foreign secretary encouraged Hasina’s continued commitment to women and girls, including her efforts to achieve gender equality.

Johnson raised the ongoing Rohingya crisis also in a separate meeting with Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali later.

During the meeting, Secretary Johnson welcomed the government of Bangladesh’s commitment to the voluntary, safe and dignified return with international monitoring for the Rohingya community to their homes in Burma when the conditions are right.

Johnson also reiterated the UK’s support to the international Rohingya humanitarian response. He also invited the foreign minister to attend the London Illegal Wildlife Trade conference in autumn.

He was quoted as saying: "The UK is grateful to the Government of Bangladesh for their hosting of the Rohingya refugee community during this terrible humanitarian crisis. I am pleased that Bangladesh has once again confirmed its commitment to the voluntary, safe and dignified return of the Rohingya community in Bangladesh when the conditions in Burma are right.”