Staff Reporter :
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki has called for the third country resettlement of Rohingya issue in parallel with their repatriation to their homeland Myanmar.
“Settling the Rohingyas in a third-country is one of the permanent solutions of the crisis. It will help share the burden of the Rohingyas among the international community,” he said while addressing a seminar titled “Rohingya Crisis: The Pathways to Repatriation” organised by the Centre for Genocide Studies (CGS), University of Dhaka on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday in a statement on the occasion of the fifth year of Rohingya exodus, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken also talked about the resettlement of Rohingyas.
“As an essential component of an international, comprehensive humanitarian response, we are working to significantly increase resettlement of Rohingya refugees from the region, including from Bangladesh, so that they can rebuild their lives in the United States,” Blinken said in the statement.
After a day the Japanese envoy talked on the issue of resettlement of the Rohingyas.
Japan in 2008 decided to start a pilot programme to accept refugees from Myanmar through third-country resettlement as the first country in Asia.
So far, Japan has resettled 54 families and 200 people, including Rohingya through this scheme, the ambassador said. He also said that Japan could consider further possibilities of Rohingyas’ resettlement in Japan with the guidance of UNHCR.
Apart from this, Japan, together with Bangladesh and the international community, will do its utmost to create conditions for safe, voluntary, dignified, and sustainable repatriation to Myanmar, he added.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen also spoke as the Chief Guest at the seminar. Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, US Embassy Dhaka’s Regional Refugee Coordinator Mackenzie Rowe and Dr Imtiaz Ahmed were present on the occasion.
