Myanmar is not working as per its commitment made to Bangladesh over the repatriation of Rohingyas, says Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
She made the remarks on Monday (Feb 25) while meeting Friends of Liberation War Honour recipients Paul Connet and Ellen Connet at her Parliamentary office, reports BSS.
“We had talks and signed agreements with Myanmar on the repatriation of Rohingyas. But the Myanmar government is not acting in this regard,” she was quoted by the state news agency.
Press Secretary to the PM Ihsanul Karim briefed the media on the meeting.
The Connets lauded Bangladesh for providing shelter for the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals.
They said that the arrangements the government has made for the Rohingyas were impressive, according to Karim.
They also revealed plans of holding a concert in the US, the proceedings of which will donated to the UNHCR for the Rohingyas.
The prime minister said that the over 1.1 million Rohingyas at the southeastern district of Cox’s Bazar have outnumbered the local people, according to him.
During the meeting, Hasina highlighted the government’s initiative of developing the island of Bhashanchar in Noakhali as a temporary arrangement for the Rohingyas.
“We’re developing the island with all facilities so that the Rohingyas can live in the island in a better condition and at this moment, 25,000 Rohingya families could be shifted there,” Karim quoted the prime minister saying during the meeting.
Bhasanchar is 10,000 acres at high tide and 15,000 acres at low tide. No-one lives on the island, which is mostly used for cattle grazing.
The Bangladesh Navy is implementing the Bhashanchar project under the Prime Minister’s Office at an estimated of Tk 23.12 billion. The project is to be fully completed with the government’s own funds by 2019. The project has completed 80 percent of work so far.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council cleared a project for the construction of homes and other infrastructure for 100,000 forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals on in November 2017.
Earlier on Aug 25 the same year, Myanmar army launched a crackdown on the Rohingyas, forcing over 700,000 of the ethnic minority to cross the border and take shelter in overcrowded refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar to join the more than 300,000 Rohingyas already living in Bangladesh.