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DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh’s prime minister stated Monday that the extended keep of greater than 1 million Rohingya refugees in crowded camps within the nation has turn out to be a severe safety and stability concern.
“Aside from their very own miseries, their extended presence is inflicting a severe impression on the economic system, setting, safety and sociopolitical stability of Bangladesh,” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stated on the opening ceremony of a three-day assembly of army officers from 24 international locations within the Indo-Pacific area.
America is the co-host of the gathering, referred to as the Indo-Pacific Armies Administration Seminar, together with the Bangladesh military.
Whereas the militaries of the taking part international locations are discussing catastrophe administration, transnational crime, safety points and girls’s empowerment, Bangladesh is utilizing the platform to spotlight the problem of Rohingya refugees who’ve fled from violence in Myanmar.
Individuals within the assembly, together with the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Vietnam, will go to the sprawling Rohingya refugee camps to see their plight firsthand, stated Gen. S.M. Shafiuddin Ahmed, chief of Bangladesh military.
Ahmed stated the army leaders are being taken to the camps in Cox’s Bazar district to offer them “a transparent notion” of the gravity of the refugee disaster and why their repatriation to Myanmar is critical.
Final month, the refugees marked the fifth anniversary of a mass exodus of greater than 700,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh who had been fleeing a harsh crackdown by Myanmar’s army. In complete, Bangladesh is internet hosting greater than 1 million Rohingya refugees.
Hasina has stated that repatriation is the one answer to the disaster, however that Bangladesh wouldn’t drive them to return to Myanmar.
Bangladeshi officers have expressed frustration after at the least two makes an attempt to repatriate the refugees failed beneath a bilateral settlement brokered by China. The Muslim Rohingya have stated that situations stay too harmful in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, the place they face intensive discrimination.
Charles A. Flynn, commanding common of the U.S. Military Pacific, instructed reporters that he couldn’t reply to coverage questions equivalent to how militaries can assist repatriate the Rohingya to Myanmar, however thanked Bangladesh for arranging the journey for the delegation to the refugee camps.
“What I’ll say is that this. I’m grateful that the chief of the Bangladesh military has discovered a manner in this system to carry us to Cox’s Bazar and to see the magnitude of the humanitarian help that Bangladesh has offered for 5 years to that state of affairs,” he stated.
The Rohingya disaster has gone to worldwide courts, the place Myanmar has denied any wrongdoing.
Final month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated the U.S. stays “dedicated to advancing justice and accountability” for Rohingya and all individuals of Myanmar.
