Bangladesh unable to accommodate more Rohingya refugees

DHAKA: Dhaka reiterated on Sunday that it cannot accommodate any new Rohingya refugees and urged countries and organizations recommending further intake to share the burden themselves, according to Bangladeshi media.

“We have made it clear to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that it is impossible for us to accept more Rohingya,” said Foreign Advisor Md Touhid Hossain to reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, as reported by Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).

According to Bernama, he stated that UNHCR had requested Bangladesh to protect the new arrivals, which the government has firmly rejected.

Hossain mentioned that Bangladesh has provided more support than expected, hosting 1.2 million Rohingya on a humanitarian basis.

“Those who come to us with advice or those who wish to advise us—let them take the Rohingya,” he said.

The border between Bangladesh and Myanmar has been closed, but Hossain acknowledged the difficulty in fully controlling it.

Since August 25, 2017, Bangladesh has hosted over a million Rohingya who were forcibly displaced to Cox’s Bazar, most of whom arrived there after a military crackdown in Myanmar, which the United Nations (UN) described as “textbook ethnic cleansing” and other human rights groups have labeled as genocide.

In the past seven years, not a single Rohingya refugee has returned to their homeland.

Myanmar agreed to accept the return of Rohingya refugees, but attempts to repatriate them have failed twice due to the Rohingya’s concerns about their safety and security in Rakhine State.