Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States Mohammad Ziauddin Thursday met with Senator Jeff Merkley (Democrat- Oregon), an influential member of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
The purpose of the ambassador’s meeting with Senator Merkley was to follow up on the efforts taken by the US lawmakers to create pressure on Myanmar to resolve the crisis.
Senator Merkley led a congressional delegation to Bangladesh and Myanmar in November 2017, says a press release.
Merkley was joined on the delegation by Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat- Illinois), US Representatives Betty McCollum (Democrat - Minnesota), Jan Schakowsky (Democrat - Illinois) and David Cicilline (Democrat - Rhode Island).
During the trip, the congressional delegation visited the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.
The ambassador informed the senator that Bangladesh was doing its best with limited resources to cater the needs of over a million persecuted Rohingyas temporarily sheltered in Bangladesh.
Thanking the senator for leading the delegation to Bangladesh last year, Ambassador Ziauddin pointed out the ramifications of the crisis.
He stressed upon sustained continued pressure on Myanmar government by the United States and the international community to stop the violence and to ensure continuous flow of humanitarian assistance to the Rohingyas temporarily sheltered in Bangladesh, as well as to those uprooted Rohingyas in Northern Rakhine region of Myanmar.
During his discussion with the Ambassador, the senator enquired about the ways through which the US could do more to the repatriation process of these Rohingyas.
The ambassador referred to some concrete steps to be considered by the US authorities to create sustained pressure on the Myanmar government to stop the violence immediately and to take back the Rohingyas to their own homes.
Senator Merkley lauded Bangladesh’s humanitarian efforts to the persecuted Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh.
He expressed deep appreciation to the government of Bangladesh for giving shelter to such a large number of forcedly displaced people.