A day after a Rohingya repatriation bid stalled amid the refugees’ refusal, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said Myanmar has failed to gain the trust of these homeless people.
“We will now propose Myanmar to arrange Rohingya leaders’ visit [to the Rakhine State] to see what sort of settlement has been made there,” he said on Friday (Aug 23).
Speaking to the reporters at the Sylhet airport, the minister said, “China has built 100 houses and India another 250 [for Rohingyas in Rakhine]. If the Rohingya leaders visit there then they may volunteer to be repatriated.
“The Rohingyas should return to their country to realize their demands,” he added.
Expressing disappointment over the failure of repatriation bid, Momen said the Rohingyas ‘must return,” because Bangladesh can’t afford them any longer.
“We have failed as we couldn’t make Rohingyas understand over their safety in Myanmar,” he said adding repatriation would take place but it would take time.
Claiming Myanmar aggraded to the repatriation of Rohingyas due to pressure from the international community, Momen said, “But, we need to create more pressure and we are doing our level best.”