Bangladesh tells UN it cannot accept any more Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar
- About 740,000 Muslim Rohingya are living in camps in Bangladesh after they were driven out of Myanmar in 2017
- Myanmar’s de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticised for failing to speak out to defend the Rohingya
Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told a council meeting that the crisis over the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya sheltering in his country had gone from “bad to worse” and urged the council to take “decisive” action.
“Here, I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar,” Haque said.
Under a deal reached with Bangladesh, Myanmar agreed to take back some of the refugees, but the United Nations insists that the safety of the Rohingya be a condition for their return.
Haque asked: “Is Bangladesh paying the price for being responsive and responsible in showing empathy to a persecuted minority population of a neighbouring country?”
After five trips to Myanmar, UN envoy Christine Schraner Burgener reported “slow progress” in efforts to help hundreds of thousands of Rohingya return home and warned that Myanmar’s elections next year could worsen the crisis.