The Myanmar envoy did not talk about Rohingya issue
By Star Online
Bangladesh will not repatriate anybody against will,
State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam said today in regard to the
Rohingya repatriation process.
Speaking at a programme in Dhaka themed on Rohingya
children, the junior minister said Bangladesh will continue to facilitate
humanitarian agencies throughout.
He also urged the international community not to lose
focus on the Rohingya issue.
The minister came up with the remarks while addressing
the launching of a report titled “Childhood Interrupted”, focusing on Rohingya
refugee children.
It draws the international community's attention to
maintain pressure on Myanmar for a long-term solution to the crisis that allows
for “safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation.”
Praising the effort, the state minister said: “I
appreciate the compassion and efforts taken by the organisations who have been
working at the field with the government. We suggest the international organisations
to create more provisions for children.”
The report launching ceremony was held at Spectra
Convention Centre in the capital's Gulshan today.
Myanmar wants to improve bilateral ties with
BD: Envoy
Newly appointed Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka Lwin Oo today
met Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and discussed various bilateral
issues, including Rohingya issue, reports UNB.
Also read: New Myanmar envoy: Naypyidaw wants
to improve bilateral ties with Dhaka
However, when approached after the meeting, the Myanmar
envoy did not talk about Rohingya issue.
"I will try my best to improve and strengthen
bilateral and economic relations," he told reporters at the Foreign
Ministry.
It turned six months today, since almost 700,000
Rohingyas, mostly female and children, fleeing violence in Myanmar started
arriving in Bangladesh.
ROHINGYA: A forgotten people http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/rohingya-forgotten-people-1539664
In one of the world's biggest forced migrations in recent
years, around half a million people crossed the border in just two months after
25 August, according to the UN migration agency - IOM.
Early images of tens of thousands of frightened and
exhausted families filing through muddy paddy fields or crammed into rickety
boats during their flight shocked the world, says the UN migration agency.
Spokesman for the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric
has said urgent efforts are needed to help more than 720,000 Rohingya refugee
children who are threatened either by the approaching cyclone season in
Bangladesh or by ongoing violence and denial of their basic rights in Myanmar.
In a report marking six months since the start of the
latest exodus of Rohingyas into southern Bangladesh, Unicef says floods caused
by the forthcoming cyclone season are likely to engulf the fragile and
unsanitary camps where most of the refugees are living, raising the likelihood
of waterborne disease outbreaks and forcing clinics, learning centres and other
facilities for children to close.
Responding to a question at the UN regular briefing,
Stephane laid emphasis on creating conditions so that Rohingyas can go home
freely, willingly, to a place that is safe and to the place that they called
home.
The European Union is likely to come up with
"restrictive measures" against Myanmar generals as the Foreign
Ministers of European countries sit on Monday in Brussels.
The Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union will
begin at 9:00am (Brussels time) with a discussion on current affairs, allowing
ministers to review pressing issues on international agenda, an official told
UNB.
The Council is expected to adopt a number of conclusions
without debate, including a conclusion on Myanmar, the official said.