Rohingyas must go back to their own country: PM in Washington

GBNEWS24DESK//

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said Bangladesh is not in a position to take any more people from Myanmar emphasizing on repatriation of the Rohingyas who took shelter temporarily in Bangladesh to their own country, reports UNB.

In an interview with the Bengali service of Voice of America (VoA) aired on Tuesday, she said the Rohingyas should go back to their own country.

“It is not possible for us to take any more people,” said PM Hasina describing the burden amid Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and subsequent sanctions due to which the whole world is suffering.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char and not a single person was repatriated over the last five years.

The prime minister described how the prolonged stray of the Rohingyas in Bangladesh destroyed forests in Cox’s Bazar area, sufferings of the locals and how the Rohingyas got involved in drug trafficking, arms smuggling, human trafficking apart from getting involved in internal conflicts inside the camps.

“They (Rohingyas) need to go back to their own country,” she said referring to Bangladesh’s repeated calls to the international community for their safe return. “Everybody needs to realize (the situation).”