Ekip
12 January 2017•Update: 13 January 2017
By Mainul Islam Khan
DHAKA, Bangladesh
Using a quick action plan, Myanmar should take rapid measures to take home the hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas living in Bangladesh, Bangladesh’s foreign minister told a visiting Myanmar envoy Thursday.
AH Mahmood Ali briefed reporters about his meeting with Myanmar State Minister for Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Tin, currently visiting Bangladesh for three days as a special envoy of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
During the visit, U Kyaw Tin met Wednesday with Ali and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and handed the latter a letter from Suu Kyi.
During the meeting, Hasina stressed the importance on working jointly with Myanmar to find out why its Muslim minority crosses the border into its neighbor Bangladesh, and draw up a rapid plan to take them back.
There are some 400,000 registered and unregistered Rohingyas living in Bangladesh, including around 32,000 registered in UNHCR refugee camps.
U Kyaw Tin assured that he would talk to his ministry about the issue, Ali told reporters.
The state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) reported that Hasina reaffirmed that Bangladesh values its relations with its neighbors, expressing satisfaction with bilateral ties.
"I will do whatever is necessary to further strengthen ties with Myanmar," he was quoted as saying.
Highlighting Bangladesh’s rapid socioeconomic development, Hasina said Myanmar could learn from its experience.
When Myanmar’s envoy asked for Bangladesh’s cooperation in handling terrorism in Rakhine State, Hasina reiterated Bangladesh's "zero tolerance policy" for terrorism, saying that Bangladesh won't allow its soil to be used for terrorist attacks against any of its neighbors.
As proposed by Bangladesh, the two countries agreed to sign memoranda of understanding (MOU) for a Framework Agreement on Security and Cooperation and Border Liaison Office.
Ali said that Bangladesh expressed concern to U Kyaw Tin that around 65,000 Rohingyas have crossed the border into Bangladesh since last October.
U Kyaw Tin was also told that Bangladeshi resort town of Cox’s Bazar is hurting economically due to the large flow of Rohingyas coming into Bangladesh and around 300,000 unregistered Myanmar citizens living nearby.
