US Congressman hails Bangladesh govt for hosting Rohingyas

US Congressman Eliot Engel has appreciated the government of Bangladesh for hosting the persecuted Rohingyas from Myanmar, and also expressed his hope to visit Bangladesh, see the Rohingya camps and hold talks with various stakeholders.

Engel, also the chairman of US House Foreign Affairs Committee, told this to Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque when the latter met the Congressman at the Hill in Washington DC on January 24, according to a press release issued by Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC.

Foreign Secretary Haque thanked Congressman Engel for his initiatives in the House Foreign Affairs Committee to adopt resolutions condemning the atrocities on the Rohingyas and for putting greater pressure on Myanmar so that the latter stops persecution on the Rohingya people, the release read.

Later, the foreign secretary exchanged views with a group of staffers from both the US House Foreign Affairs Committee and the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He briefed the staffers on various aspects of Bangladesh's foreign relations, the ongoing Rohingya crisis and Bangladesh's trade and investment opportunities in US and other countries.

Md Shahidul Haque also met with Jennifer Wethey, acting deputy assistant to the President and Zeba Rayazuddin, acting assistant US trade representative.

Earlier in the day, the foreign secretary addressed a group of scholars at the Heritage Foundation and shared his ideas on evolving orders in Asia, according to the release.

On January 23, Haque held a meeting with Randall Schriver, assistant secretary (Asia-Pacific) of US Department of Defense. Various issues relating to US-Bangladesh defense cooperation came up at the meeting.

Bangladesh Ambassador to USA Mohammad Ziauddin and senior officials of foreign ministry and Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC accompanied the foreign secretary during the meetings.

He also met with senior executives of National Cotton Council (NCC) on the same day, the release added.

Who are the Rohingyas?

Rohingyas are an ethnic minority community in Myanmar. Mostly Muslims, they have long been persecuted in the Buddhist majority country and taking shelter in neighbouring Bangladesh and India during the different waves of violence over the decades.

Myanmar refuses to recognise them as citizens and falsely labels them as "Bengali" illegal immigrants.

What is the ongoing Rohingya crisis about?

Some 750,000 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh after fleeing from the Rakhine state of Myanmar since August 2017 following an army-led crackdown on the community which the United Nations (UN) has termed as "genocide".

They joined some 300,000 Rohingyas who were already living in refugee camps in Bangladesh.