Bangladesh to communicate AA on refugee repatriation

Jonathan, Narinjara News, 5 September 2024

Md Touhid Hossain, Bangladesh's foreign affairs adviser, informed that the interim government in Dhaka plans to reach out to the Arakan Army (AA) to discuss the repatriation of refugees to Myanmar, said a report in New Age daily.

In response to a reporter's question about the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, the foreign affairs adviser stated that establishing a communication channel with the AA, which currently controls most of Arakan State, becomes necessary for materialising the process.

"I think this is the way forward, but we need to assess how much we can achieve at the State level," he added.

Touhid also mentioned that around 8,000 Rohingyas from Arakan State  recently crossed into Bangladesh due to ongoing armed conflicts in the region.

“We are having discussions over the matter in the cabinet,” he responded to the reporters at his ministry.

Bangladesh, in principle, has decided not to provide shelter to any more displaced Rohingyas, he asserted.

Expressing sympathy for the persecuted Rohingyas, he claimed that  Bangladesh had no more space for additional refugees.

Touhid noted that while the border with Myanmar is being monitored closely, ensuring complete security along the frontier remains a challenge.

"It is not fully possible to seal the border. Our government will make efforts to prevent further entry of Rohingyas," he added.

He is meeting the home affairs adviser in the next few days to discuss a possible initiative to adopt.

Since 25 August 2017, Bangladesh supported over 700,000  Rohingyas from Myanmar in Cox’s Bazar locality due to the military crackdown by the military junta forces.

Over the past seven years, no Rohingya has returned home.

Myanmar has already agreed to take them back, but the repatriation attempts failed twice due to the Rohingya families’ lack of trust in the military junta during their stay in Arakan State.