There is no alternative to sending Rohingya refugees back to their homeland Myanmar, said finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. “We have to repatriate Rohingyas to Myanmar as soon as possible. We are facing huge damage for Rohingya people. They should be sent back immediately to Myanmar in any way,” the minister said at a roundtable on Rohingya refugees held at World Bank head office in Washington on Saturday, said a press release issued by the finance ministry, says a press release.
The meeting was attended by, among others, Vice President of the World Bank's South Asia Region Hartwig Schafer, Bangladesh’ Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Monowar Ahmed and Finance Secretary Abdur Rauf Talukder. At the meeting, the finance minister sought assistance of World Bank to repatriate Rohingyas to their homeland in any way within shortest period.
“It’s urgent to send back them to Myanmar. There is no chance to take any other alternative steps than to send the Rohingyas back to Myanmar,” he added. He said a deal was signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar last year to repatriate Rohingyas, but there is no timeline mentioned in the agreement.
The minister hoped that specific timeline would come soon about the matter. The WB can play vital role to raise awareness across the world over the issue, and thus facilitate the repatriation of Rohingyas to send back huge number of Rohingyas from Bangladesh, he added.
Responding to the call of Bangladesh, the WB has expressed a positive note, the minister said. Mustafa Kamal said that the Rohingyas, who have escaped death, are being given shelter in Bangladesh on humanitarian grounds. Rohingya settlements have severely damaged biodiversity and depleted over 8,000 acres of reserved forest in Cox’s Bazar. This is increasing our social and climate challenges.
'The damages we have including social bonds cannot be quantified in dollars or money. So this is our prime demand for the Rohingya to return to their homeland. ” "We are not thinking about the financial support of the World Bank or any other development partners. We are thinking of their repatriation, because there is no alternative to their return to their country”.
“Hopefully the World Bank will talk to everyone and give us a good solution. The world community has agreed with us on this. China, India and Japan each are major factor. As a result, nothing can be done without them. We believe that they will discuss everything and make decisions”, he added.
