US to keep pressure on Myanmar to solve Rohingya issue

The US administration will continue to put pressure on Myanmar to resolve the Rohingya refugee crisis.

Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan said Washington would continue its pressure on Myanmar to create safe and secured conditions in Northern Rakhine for repatriation of those Myanmar nationals from Bangladesh.

He lauded Bangladesh’s role in addressing the issue in a meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali in Washington on Tuesday.

The foreign ministry said the deputy secretary thanked Bangladesh for its role in addressing the Rohingya crisis while greeting the foreign minister.

Ali is currently visiting Washington at the invitation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to lead the Bangladesh delegation at the first-ever ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom.

The State Department is hosting the high-level global meeting on religious freedom on July 25-26.

Ali conveyed sincere thanks and appreciation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to US President Donald Trump, and his administration, for the “strong and consistent” humanitarian and political support to Bangladesh in dealing with this massive humanitarian crisis.

He urged the US administration to remain engaged with Myanmar to ensure dignified, safe and sustainable return of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas.

“Acknowledging the fact that it is a staggering burden on Bangladesh to host 1.1 million forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar, Deputy Secretary Sullivan assured that the US would continue to work with Myanmar government for their early repatriation," he was quoted as saying by the foreign ministry.

During the meeting, the foreign minister also requested the US administration to return Rashed Chowdhury, a convicted killer of the Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to face justice.

He said the return of this convicted killer would create “a tremendous amount of goodwill about the United States among the people of Bangladesh".

“In response, Deputy Secretary Sullivan stated that he is aware of the issue and the United States Department of Justice is dealing with this.”

The foreign minister invited Deputy Secretary Sullivan and Secretary of State Pompeo to visit Bangladesh.

Earlier on Tuesday, former governor of New Mexico and former energy secretary William Blaine Richardson III met the foreign minister at the Bangladesh embassy. They exchanged views on issues of common interests and importance with particular focus on the Rohingya crisis.