PM Hasina wants specific steps to put pressure on Myanmar to take back Rohingyas

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says she expects specific steps from the international community to increase pressure on Myanmar to take back Rohingyas from Bangladesh according to their repatriation agreement.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 Sept 2018, 09:09 AM
Updated : 9 Sept 2018, 11:25 AM

The prime minister repeated the call at the inaugural programme of the Islamic Development Bank Group Regional Hub at Hotel Radisson Blu in Dhaka on Sunday.

“We have given shelter to them on humanitarian grounds, but Myanmar has to take them back,” she said.

“We are standing strong in the face of this crisis despite the negative impact on own resources, ecology and local population. We have opened our border to give shelter to a huge number of Rohingya Muslims.” 

About 700,000 Muslim Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh since the military launched a crackdown in Myanmar's western Rakhine state in response to insurgent attacks on security forces last August.

About 400,000 Rohingyas had come to Bangladesh at various points in the past few decades before 2017’s army crackdown began.

Under pressure from the UN and other international organisations, Myanmar agreed to sign an agreement with Bangladesh last December to repatriate hundreds of thousands Rohingyas. Myanmar has yet to begin the repatriation process.

“Myanmar never opposed us during discussions of repatriation, but the reality is different. They have not come forward to implement the agreement,” Hasina said at a recent media briefing in Dhaka.

The prime minister urged the international community to keep up the pressure on Myanmar to implement the agreement. She also urged the IDB president to support the Rohingya people and to ensure their rights and safety are secured.

She also urged the IDB president to invest more to help Bangladesh cope with the challenge of climate change.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivers a speech at the inauguration of the Islamic Development Bank Group Regional Hub of Dhaka at the Radisson Blu Hotel on Sunday.

The government has taken some measures under the ‘Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan’ to mitigate and adapt to adverse climate change conditions in Bangladesh, she said. The country also has a ‘Bangladesh Climate Change Trust’ under the supervision of the Ministry of Environment and Forest.

Hasina said the Bangladesh government has a proposed nationwide investment plan (2016-2021) to review the demands of investment, the current situation and shortages in the sector of the environment, forests, and climate change, which needs a capital of $11.7 million to implement.

“A total of $4.7 million has already been invested from several international and national sources,” Hasina said. “We need help from the IDB to make up for the remaining $7 million.”