Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said Myanmar is not working as per its commitment with Bangladesh on the repatriation of their Rohingya nationals to their homeland.
“We held talks and signed agreements with Myanmar on the repatriation of Rohingyas. But the Myanmar government is not acting in this regard,” she said.
The prime minister made the remarks when Dr Paul Connet and Ellen Connet, the recipients of “Friends of Bangladesh’s Liberation War Honour”, paid a courtesy call on her at her Jatiya Sangsad Office here this evening.
After the meeting, PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters.
Referring to the influx of over 11 lakh Rohingyas into Cox’s Bazar, the prime minister said they outnumbered the local people.
In this connection, Sheikh Hasina said her government is developing an island named Bhashanchar in Noakhali to give temporary shelter to the forcibly displaced 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,” she said.
The prime minister recalled that over one crore Bangladeshi refugees took shelter in neighbouring India during the Liberation War in 1971.
Sheikh Hasina also remembered her and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana’s refugee life after the assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.
At the meeting, Paul Connet and Mrs Connet, the US nationals, highly appreciated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for giving a huge number of Rohingyas in Bangladesh and apprised her of their visit to Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.
They also commended the Bangladesh government for making excellent arrangements including clean drinking water and sanitation system for the Rohingyas at the camps.
“The arrangements your government has made for the Rohingyas are excellent and we’re very much impressed for it,” they told the premier.
Paul Connet and Mrs Connet said they are planning to hold a concert in the USA and the money that will be earned from it will be donated to the UNHCR for the Rohingya people.
Paul Connet recalled that he had entered Bangladesh first in October in 1971 with freedom fighters and had been impressed to see the green and scenic beauty of Bangladesh.
The prime minister expressed her profound appreciation for their love and solidarity with the people of Bangladesh during the Liberation War.
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Secretary of the Ministry SM Arif-ur-Rahman and Trustee of Liberation War Museum Mafidul Haque were present.
(BSS)
