Japanese Foreign
Minister Taro Kono has pushed Myanmar to speed up the process of taking back
Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh with a five-point advice to the Myanmar
authorities.
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| FM Japan Taro Kono and FM BD AHM Ali on 07.08.2018 |
Press Secretary at
the Japan foreign ministry Takeshi Osuga briefing a select group of reporters
in Dhaka after the bilateral meeting on Tuesday said Kono told his counterpart
AH Mahmood Ali what he had shared with the Myanmar authorities during his visit
before Bangladesh.
Kono came to Dhaka
on Tuesday for a brief visit from Myanmar.
The press secretary
said it is “very rare” that Japan foreign minister visit a country twice in a
year. But he visited both Bangladesh and Myanmar two times within six months.
“It was because he
saw some positive developments regarding the Rakhine State such as setting up
independent enquiry commission by the Myanmar government and signing of MoU
between Myanmar and the UN agencies.”
Nearly 700,000
Rohingyas fled ‘ethnic cleansing’ from the Rakhine State since August last year
and took shelter in Cox’s Bazar.
Kono encouraged
Myanmar government to take “concrete steps” for safe, voluntary and dignified
return of Rohingyas.
The Japan’s five
points advice to Myanmar include – to fully cooperate with independent
commission of enquiry for steady implementation of the investigation in a
reliable and transparent manner as soon as possible, fully cooperate with UN
agencies based on the MoU conclude with the UNHCR and UNDP to improve the
environment for the return and resettlement of the displaced person and third
is that to close as soon as possible the internal displaced people camps, IDP
camps, in the central Rakhine State to give Rohingyas in Bangladesh a
confidence.
The fourth Japanese
advice was to expedite the process of creating proper environment including
housing to show that there is a nice place to go back, and the fifth was to
conduct regular briefing by Myanmar government directly to the people in the
camps in Bangladesh to improve communication.
The press secretary
said they shared those so that the Bangladesh foreign minister to be better
prepared before his visit to Myanmar from Aug 9.
Foreign Minister
Mahmood Ali at the joint briefing said Kono and he shared their views on the
process for early repatriation and their subsequent resettlement.
“Japan understands
that there is compelling reason to create conducive atmosphere in Rakhine State
of Myanmar for safe and sustainable return of the Rohingyas and we have shared
some specific proposals in this direction,” he said.
“We agreed on the
vital importance of stability in the region for building stronger economic
partnership between our two countries and early realization of safe and secure
return of the Rohingyas is the key.”
The foreign minister
said Japan has agreed to provide necessary support towards realisation of
repatriation and resettlement of the Rohingyas.
During his meeting
with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Japanese foreign minister raised the
issue of Rakhine and “highly evaluated” the generous acceptance and assistance
by the Bangladesh government for the refugees.
He expressed his
intention to support based on the repatriation deal signed between Bangladesh
and Myanmar.
The prime minister
explained the assistance Bangladesh is providing and both of them agreed to
keep “closely in touch” on this issue.
The Japanese foreign
minister will leave for Russia after mid-night.