No forceful Rohingya repatriation: Junior minister

Bangladesh will not repatriate anybody against will, State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam said today in regard to the Rohingya repatriation process.

Speaking at a programme in Dhaka themed on Rohingya children, the junior minister said Bangladesh will continue to facilitate humanitarian agencies throughout.

He also urged the international community not to lose focus on the Rohingya issue.

The minister came up with the remarks while addressing the launching of a report titled "Childhood Interrupted", focusing on Rohingya refugee children.

It draws the international community's attention to maintain pressure on Myanmar for a long-term solution to the crisis that allows for "safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation."

Praising the effort, the state minister said: "I appreciate the compassion and efforts taken by the organisations who have been working at the field with the government. We suggest the international organisations to create more provisions for children."

The report launching ceremony was held at Spectra Convention Centre in the capital's Gulshan today.

Myanmar wants to improve bilateral ties with BD: Envoy

Newly appointed Myanmar Ambassador in Dhaka Lwin Oo today met Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and discussed various bilateral issues, including Rohingya issue, reports UNB.

However, when approached after the meeting, the Myanmar envoy did not talk about Rohingya issue.

"I will try my best to improve and strengthen bilateral and economic relations," he told reporters at the Foreign Ministry.

It turned six months today, since almost 700,000 Rohingyas, mostly female and children, fleeing violence in Myanmar started arriving in Bangladesh.

In one of the world's biggest forced migrations in recent years, around half a million people crossed the border in just two months after 25 August, according to the UN migration agency - IOM.

Early images of tens of thousands of frightened and exhausted families filing through muddy paddy fields or crammed into rickety boats during their flight shocked the world, says the UN migration agency.

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ROHINGYA: A forgotten people

Spokesman for the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric has said urgent efforts are needed to help more than 720,000 Rohingya refugee children who are threatened either by the approaching cyclone season in Bangladesh or by ongoing violence and denial of their basic rights in Myanmar.

In a report marking six months since the start of the latest exodus of Rohingyas into southern Bangladesh, Unicef says floods caused by the forthcoming cyclone season are likely to engulf the fragile and unsanitary camps where most of the refugees are living, raising the likelihood of waterborne disease outbreaks and forcing clinics, learning centres and other facilities for children to close.

Responding to a question at the UN regular briefing, Stephane laid emphasis on creating conditions so that Rohingyas can go home freely, willingly, to a place that is safe and to the place that they called home.

The European Union is likely to come up with "restrictive measures" against Myanmar generals as the Foreign Ministers of European countries sit on Monday in Brussels.

The Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union will begin at 9:00am (Brussels time) with a discussion on current affairs, allowing ministers to review pressing issues on international agenda, an official told UNB.

The Council is expected to adopt a number of conclusions without debate, including a conclusion on Myanmar, the official said.