Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Bangladesh for UN help to repatriate Rohingya refugees

 
Monday, 08 March 2010 13:02 Siddique Islam (News Brief)

Dhaka (Mizzima) - To resume and expedite the repatriation of Burmese Rohingya refugees, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni has sought the assistance of the UN refugee agency.

She made the appeal as Steven Craig Sanders, newly appointed representative in Bangladesh of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), presented his credentials to the minister at her office in the capital, Dhaka on Sunday, a Foreign Ministry press statement said.

On December 29, 2009 the Burmese junta agreed to take back 9,000 Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh at the earliest. Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint agreed to take back the refugees after Bangladesh handed over a list of 28,000 Burmese nationals.

Dipu Moni also urged the UNHCR representative to work more intensely inside Burma, to create conditions conducive to the return of the refugees, through, for instance, accelerating the socio-economic development process of the Arakhan (Rakhine) State as well as through building institutions such as schools and hospitals.

She reiterated Bangladesh’s position on the issue of Rohingya refugees, saying that full repatriation remained the only viable solution to this protracted problem. She ruled out any other option.

The UNHCR representative agreed with the foreign minister's assessment of the situation.

He referred to enhanced UNHCR activities inside Burma in ensuring socio-economic development of Arakan State with a view to encouraging the refugees to return to their own country.

The UNHCR set up two camps at Nayapara and Kutupalong in the country's southeastern Cox's Bazaar district to repatriate the Rohingya people.

More than 28,000 of 500,000 Rohingya refugees registered in 1992 have been living in the camps.