Diplomatic Correspondent :
Myanmar has proposed taking back the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who have fled to Bangladesh in recent weeks following military crackdown in Rakhine state.
U Kyaw Tint Swe, a minister of Myanmar’s State Counsellor Office, came up with the proposal in a meeting with Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali.
“The meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere and Myanmar has made a proposal to take back the Rohingya refugees,” Ali told reporters after the meeting with the Minister U Kyaw Tint Swe.
The meeting was held at the State Guest House Padma in the capital on Monday.
Ali said Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to form a “joint working group” to start work on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees. But he did not give details about the process and when the process will begin.
“What Bangladesh has been saying is that we want to settle this issue peacefully and both countries have agreed to that,” said Ali.
The also said that Bangladesh has handed over Myanmar a draft agreement of repatriation for their consideration.
The Myanmar delegation did not speak to the media.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister’s Office Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque and other high officials attended the meeting.
Over 500,000 Rohingyas have arrived Bangladesh since August 25 and the United Nations called the exodus of the world’s fastest-developing refugee emergency.
The influx broke out on August 25, when the Myanmar military unleashed a fresh crackdown against Rohingya villages in the western state of Rakhine following a series of armed attacks on army and police check posts there.
