Staff Reporter :
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said the United Kingdom is working for the safe and dignified return of the Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar.
He made the statement after visiting the Kutupalong and Balukhali Rohingya camps under Ukhia upazila of Cox’s Bazar district on Saturday afternoon.
“We’re working with international community to ensure required conditions for the repatriation of displaced Rohingya people to their homeland. The Myanmar authorities must ensure safety, security and full humanitarian access allowing refugees to return in a voluntary, safe and dignified manner,” said Boris Johnson.
The British Foreign Secretary arrived in Cox’s Bazar around 1pm to see the conditions of the Rohingyas who have fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh after August 25, when the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown on the minority community in Rakhine, which the United Nations called ‘a text book case of genocide’.
After arriving in the coastal district, the British Foreign Secretary went directly to the refugee camp to see for himself the plight of the Rohingyas and listened tales of sufferings and horrors during military crackdown on them.
“The plight of the Rohingyas and the sufferings they have had to endure are most shocking humanitarian disasters of our time. This is a man-made tragedy that could be resolved with the right political will, tolerance and cooperation from all those involved,” said Boris Johnson.
He said, “Rohingyas want safety, equal rights before repatriation. I will discuss with the Burmese government the steps needed to enable them for safe and dignified return.”
Johnson also visited a makeshift hospital in Balukali refugee camp run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and held meeting with the officials of organization stationed in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps.
Bangladesh’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Alison Blake, representatives of UNHCR and IOM, among others, accompanied him during the visit.
Johnson left for Myanmar later on Saturday. He is due to meet de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi to hold talks on Rohingya crisis. He arrived in Dhaka on Friday, the first official visit by a British Foreign Secretary in 10 years, and meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali. After meetings, Johnson stressed the need for resolving the Rohingya refugee crisis and quick and safe return to their homeland.
“What we all want to see is a safe, a dignified and secure returns for the people, for the Rohingya, back to their place of origin,” he said.
About 660,000 Rohingyas arrived in Bangladesh since the military crackdown began in Rakhine in August last year, according to the UN agencies.
“I was really struck by how Bangladesh and the UK really share a common analysis of what needs to be done. We need to make those points together to the government in Naypydaw.’
He added: “The government of Bangladesh has shown immense compassion and speed and mercy in dealing with a challenge that I think any government would have found very daunting indeed.”
