JAPANESE Foreign Minister Taro Kono visited the Rohingya camp in Kutupalong of Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday. He said the Japanese government is always beside Bangladesh to solve the Rohingya crisis. “The help and support of his government for the Rohingyas will be uninterrupted,” he further said. According to media, he also talked to the Rohingya people living at the camp about their problems and demands to get an overview of the situation there.
The Japanese foreign minister arrived in Dhaka on Monday night on a three-day visit. He was scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart AK Abdul Momen in the capital later. Apart from the Rohingya issue, other matters related to further strengthening Bangladesh-Japan ties would also be discussed during the meeting between the two foreign ministers.
Meanwhile, Dhaka hopes that Kono’s visit will help expedite the ongoing efforts of commencing safe repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar. Some 750,000 Rohingyas fled atrocities in Myanmar’s Rakhine State after August 25, 2017. Thousands more were displaced in clashes between the Myanmar army and the Arakan Army since early this year. From the very beginning Japan has emphasised the need for safe, voluntary repatriation of Rohingyas with the cooperation of the United Nations.
In May, during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Japan, she discussed with her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe ways to find a durable and early solution to the humanitarian and political crisis that has emanated from the displacement of over a million Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
Japan is a very trusted friend of Bangladesh for a long time. Tokyo’s cooperation in many development projects, including Metro Rail, is highly appreciating. Not only that, the Japan International Cooperation Agency is also working in the fields of the health sector, water supply, disaster-risk management and support programme through the local government.
We do hope, the visit of Japanese FM would bring a fruitful result regarding the repatriation of Rohingya refugees. As Japan is a global economic power, it could influence other powerful countries in a bid to create pressure on Myanmar to bring back their nationals from Bangladesh in the shortest possible time.
