Staff Reporter :
Foreign Ministers of Germany, Sweden, Japan and a European Union High Representative on Saturday visited Cox’s Bazar to see the plights of minority Rohingyas who fled into Bangladesh from Myanmar.
They visited makeshift shelters in Ukhia upazila built for newly fled Rohingyas from Myanmar.
High Representative of the EU Federica Mogherini and Foreign Ministers Taro Kono of Japan, Sigmar Gabriel of Germany and Margot Wallström of Sweden visited the camps accompanied by Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali.
They heard the horrific experiences of the Rohingya people coming from Myanmar amid persecution.
They stressed the need for immediate end of persecution and said sustainable resolution of Rohingya crises would be possible only after repatriation of Rohingyas to their ancestral home in Rakhine State.
In a press briefing after the visit, Sigmar Gabriel said they talked to the Rohingya people and it was clear that the atrocities on the Rohingya people by the Myanmar army must not be acceptable and this would be discussed at ASEM meeting.
State Minister of Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam in a press briefing after the visit said the visiting foreign ministers and EU envoy thanked the government of Bangladesh for giving shelter to such huge number of Rohingyas . The ministers and EU representatives are expected to report to their respective governments on Rohingya situation on the ground.
The foreign ministers and the EU envoy will go to Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar for attending the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and they will discuss there the Rohingya issue, said the junior minister.
They also monitored the relief distribution work and visited health centers at the camps.
Earlier on Saturday morning, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono met AH Mahmood Ali at Pan Pacific Sonargaon hotel in the capital.
Thousands of minority Rohingyas, mostly women, children and aged people, fled into Bangladesh, as Myanmar military and religious bigots launched a ‘security operation’ killing thousands of people and burning villages and houses since August 25.
The total number of undocumented Myanmar nationals and refugees living in Bangladesh has risen to 8,00,000, according to unofficial estimate.
