PM urges world to keep up pressure on Myanmar to take back Rohingyas

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today reiterated her call to the international community to keep up their pressure on the Myanmar government to take back the Rohingya people from Bangladesh.

"The global community will have to continue their pressure on the Myanmar government to take back the forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Bangladesh," she said when International Rescue Committee (IRC) President and CEO David Miliband paid a courtesy call on her at the Jatiya Sangsad office of the prime minister's here this noon.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said the prime minister and the IRC chief mainly discussed the Rohingya issue.

The premier said Bangladesh is holding discussions with Myanmar on the issue and pursuing them to take back their nationals from here.

Sheikh Hasina informed Miliband that the local people of Cox's Bazar are suffering most and the environment is being affected due to the influx of a huge number of Rohingya people there.

The premier said arrangements are being made to shift the Rohingyas to a safe place. "We are providing healthcare services to the Rohingya people and also developing an island named Bhashan Char to shift them there," she said.

The IRC president informed the premier that he came to Bangladesh with a team to see the condition of the Rohingyas.

Miliband, a British Labour Party politician and former secretary of state, highly praised the Bangladesh government for giving shelter to over 11 lakh Rohingyas.

"Opening the border for the Rohingyas is a significant humanitarian gesture and it's a signal to the international community," he said.

Miliband said an IRC team is working in Bangladesh for the assistance of the Rohingyas and assured that they will continue their help. "We will recruit 100 staff from Bangladesh for the support of the Rohingyas," he said.

The IRC chief stressed the need for decongesting the areas where the Rohingyas have taken shelter.

Both the prime minister and the IRC chief feared that the biggest problem for the Rohingyas would be landslide in the upcoming monsoon, the press secretary said.

Miliband thanked the Bangladesh government for supporting the registration of the Rohingya people.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, PM's International Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi and Principal Secretary Md Nojibur Rahman were present on the occasion.

Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers emergency aid and long-term assistance to refugees and those displaced by war, persecution, or natural disaster.

The IRC is currently working in over 40 countries and 28 US cities where it resettles refugees and helps them become self-sufficient.