Rohingya repatriation may start by December: Foreign secretary
NEWS DESK
The repatriation of Rohingyas may begin by the end of this year, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen has said.
He remarked this ahead of August 25, the fifth anniversary of the latest Rohingya influx from Myanmar.
“We hope to start the repatriation the end of this year… They [Rohingyas] are becoming a burden for us,” he told the media after a meeting of the National Taskforce on Rohingyas.
Representatives from UN Resident Coordinator, UN Refugee Agency, International Organization for Migration, UN Food Programme, Unicef and UN Population Fund were present.
At the meeting, Masud said UN presented the quick impact projects that the UN agencies are implementing in Rakhine villages.
Besides, China, Japan and India are also working to improve conditions there, he added.
The Bangladesh government sought more information from the UN agencies on the projects they are implementing, including the videos, so that those can be presented before the Rohingyas as a confidence-building measure, he added.
The foreign secretary said the taskforce has adopted two policies — skill development and capacity building — so that Rohingyas can use it after returning to Myanmar.
An important update was that the WFP will soon start providing food assistance to the 30,000 Rohingyas moved to Bhasan Char from Cox’s Bazar.
