UNB, Sangsad :
Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on Thursday told Parliament that Rohingyas may become a threat for national security in the future.
“Among the Cox’s Bazar population, 20-25 percent people are now Rakhine Muslims. Such huge Rakhine Muslims may become a threat for national security in the future,” he said replying to an unstarred (written)
question from Awami League MP Md Israfil Alam (Naogaon-6).
The Foreign Minister said some 33,000 Rohingyas, registered as refugees, are living in two camps run by United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cox’s Babazar. But it is estimated that some 3 to 4 lakh unregistered Myanmar citizens have been staying in five districts, including Cox’s Bazar, he added.
He said some 75,000 Myanmar citizens entered Bangladesh afresh since October 2016 till now following the military drives in Rakhine state.
The Muslims community was subjected to massive repression in Rakhine following the military drives after attack on a Myanmar border post in 2016. So, huge Muslim nationals started intruding Bangladesh, he said.
Mahmood Ali said though Bangladesh urged Myanmar to take back its people on several occasions, it did not pay any heed to the call. The Myanmar authorities also do not consider the Rakhine Muslims as their citizens, he added.
He said, Bangladesh also drew the attention of the international community to address the issue and the government also outlined a plan to shift the Rohingyas to an island at Hatia of Noakhali district, but it faced opposition from various quarters.
The minister said Myanmar intruders are harming Bangladesh in terms of social, economic, political and environmental aspects. “They’re contributing to a law-and-order slide by engaging in various misdeeds. They are also putting a negative influence on our overseas labour market.”
He went on saying, “The Rakhine people have got engaged in various misdeeds, including drug smuggling, arms and human trafficking and producing drug on border. Creating a gang of miscreants, they’ve become a national security concern for Bangladesh.”
Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on Thursday told Parliament that Rohingyas may become a threat for national security in the future.
“Among the Cox’s Bazar population, 20-25 percent people are now Rakhine Muslims. Such huge Rakhine Muslims may become a threat for national security in the future,” he said replying to an unstarred (written)
question from Awami League MP Md Israfil Alam (Naogaon-6).
The Foreign Minister said some 33,000 Rohingyas, registered as refugees, are living in two camps run by United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cox’s Babazar. But it is estimated that some 3 to 4 lakh unregistered Myanmar citizens have been staying in five districts, including Cox’s Bazar, he added.
He said some 75,000 Myanmar citizens entered Bangladesh afresh since October 2016 till now following the military drives in Rakhine state.
The Muslims community was subjected to massive repression in Rakhine following the military drives after attack on a Myanmar border post in 2016. So, huge Muslim nationals started intruding Bangladesh, he said.
Mahmood Ali said though Bangladesh urged Myanmar to take back its people on several occasions, it did not pay any heed to the call. The Myanmar authorities also do not consider the Rakhine Muslims as their citizens, he added.
He said, Bangladesh also drew the attention of the international community to address the issue and the government also outlined a plan to shift the Rohingyas to an island at Hatia of Noakhali district, but it faced opposition from various quarters.
The minister said Myanmar intruders are harming Bangladesh in terms of social, economic, political and environmental aspects. “They’re contributing to a law-and-order slide by engaging in various misdeeds. They are also putting a negative influence on our overseas labour market.”
He went on saying, “The Rakhine people have got engaged in various misdeeds, including drug smuggling, arms and human trafficking and producing drug on border. Creating a gang of miscreants, they’ve become a national security concern for Bangladesh.”
