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Guterres, Kim assure continued support on Rohingya issue
DHAKA, July 1, 2018 (BSS) – UN Secretary General Antinio Guterres and
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim today assured Bangladesh of continued
support in handling the Rohingya crisis as they jointly met Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina at her Tejgaon office here.
“They simultaneously reiterated their commitment to keep continued
pressure on Mayanmar to resolve the crisis,” premier’s press secretary
Ihsanul Karim told newsmen after the meeting.
The UN secretary general and the WB chief, he said, again appreciated
Bangladesh’s generosity in offering refuge to more than a million of
Rohingyas who fled their home to evade massacre and reaffirmed the global
community’s solidarity with Dhaka.
The meeting came after the two global figures reached Dhaka overnight
while they are scheduled to visit the makeshift Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar
ahead of wrapping up their nearly three day Bangladesh tour over the issue.
Karim said Bangladesh’s development issue also largely featured the
discussion while the premier appreciated Guterres and Kim for their visit and
explained them the challenges being faced by the country in view of the
crisis.
She pointed out that people in the neighbourhood appeared as worst
sufferers due to the massive influx.
The premier, he said, focused on a chronological history of influx of
Rohingyas from Myanmar into Bangladesh since 1977 until their latest exodus
triggered by a ruthless military crackdown that began on Auguat 25 last year.
“Bangladesh gave shelter to 1.1 million Rohingyas only on humanitarian
grounds as people of the country suffered a nearly identical experience as
they were forced to take shelter in India during the War of Liberation in
1971,” Karim quoted the premier as telling the two high profile dignitaries.
Sheikh Hasina told them despite the bilateral agreement reached with
Myanmar for Rohingyas repatriation Naypyidaw was yet to take any action for
its implementation.
Sheikh Hasina also explained them the government preparations to relocate
1, 00,000 Rohingyas to an offshore island saying they could live there in a
better condition having livelihood opportunities.
Bangladesh, she said, now providing the Rohingyas all humanitarian
supports including healthcare services.
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