Momen hopes army chief’s Myanmar visit would help Bangladesh

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said the scheduled visit of the army chief to Myanmar will open another line of negotiation with the country over repatriation of Rohingyas living in Bangladesh, reports news agency UNB.

“We want to resolve it (Rohingya crisis) through discussions. I think it (the visit) will go in favour of us. It’ll be good for us,” he told newsmen at state guesthouse Padma in the capital.

Momen said Myanmar is not Bangladesh’s enemy, rather a friend and in Myanmar, their army plays a very significant role.

In this situation, he hoped, it will be good for Bangladesh if army chief general Aziz Ahmed visits the country.

The army chief recently said he will visit Myanmar next month where he would discuss issues relating to improving the relationship between the two neighbouring countries.

Many issues will come up. They may talk about the Rohingya issue too. But whatever happens, it will be in the interest of Bangladesh, the foreign minister said.

The foreign minister also said Myanmar created the Rohingya crisis and the onus is on Myanmar to find its solution.

Momen said they remain engaged on all front and expect a solution to Rohingya crisis through negotiation and discussion.

‘Rohingya relocation process to Bhasan Char still on’ 

Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas. Most of them entered Cox’s Bazar since 25 August 2017 amid a military crackdown on the mainly-Muslim ethnic minority in the Rakhine state.

Asked whether the government has postponed Rohingya relocation plan to Bhasan char, the foreign minister said, “It has not stopped. Our process is still going on.”

He said the plan to relocate Rohingyas in Bhasan char is a temporary arrangement as the existing Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar are overcrowded and there’re risks of landslides and subsequent deaths there.

“We won’t force anybody to go there. Any relocation will be voluntary in nature. We wanted to relocate them there for their betterment and to avoid risk or reduce risks,” Momen added.

The Bangladesh government has already developed Bhasan Char island to accommodate some 100,000 Rohingyas.

‘Ready to send back Rohingyas’ 

On 15 November, Myanmar made another venture to “unduly attribute the non-commencement of repatriation” of the Rohingya entirely to non-cooperation and non-respect of bilateral arrangements by Bangladesh.

Rejecting such a baseless accusation, falsification and misrepresentation of the facts over the Rohingya repatriation process, Bangladesh on Sunday said the Myanmar government must stop such concocted campaign.

“We’re ready to send them (Rohingyas) back. We are ready,” said foreign minister Momen.

Earlier, Bangladesh urged Myanmar to concentrate on the fulfilment of its obligations so that the forcibly displaced Rohingyas could return to their home in a “safe, dignified and voluntary manner”.

It said continued rally of fabricated information, misrepresentation of facts, unsubstantiated claims, and unwarranted accusations to unjustifiably shift the onus of the Rohingya crisis on Bangladesh testifies the campaign of the Myanmar government to avoid its obligations to create an environment in Rakhine, conducive for the sustained repatriation and reintegration of the forcibly displaced community in their homeland.

Not a single Rohingya was repatriated over the last two years due to Myanmar’s “failure” to build confidence among Rohingyas and lack of conducive environment in Rakhine state, Bangladesh officials said.

Bangladesh has so far handed over names of over 100,000 Rohingyas to the Myanmar authorities for verification and subsequently expediting their repatriation efforts. But Myanmar is yet to take back its nationals from Bangladesh, the Bangladesh foreign ministry said.

Earlier, Momen briefed the newsmen on prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s participation in the 25th UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Madrid, Spain next month.

The 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) will convene on 2-13 December.

The prime minister will leave Dhaka for Madrid on 1 December and will return home on 3 December, said the foreign minister.