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Resettle Rohingya elsewhere in the world, Bangladesh tells UN

Push-back by India, KSA unacceptable: Foreign minister

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Bangladesh has made a proposal to the United Nations for resettling some of the Rohingya refugees staying in Bangladesh in different parts of the world.

"I have told the UNHCR that the UN secretary general might convene a meeting of the world leaders and urge them to give shelter to some of our refugees," foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told the reporters on Monday.

He disclosed this after his meeting with the new resident head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

This can be done as an "interim" process because these Rohingya will be repatriated once the crisis is over, he argued.

The foreign minister also said push back of the Rohingya to Bangladesh by India and Saudi Arabia is not acceptable as they are not Bangladeshi citizens.

Responding to a question, the foreign minister said he was yet to be informed about how India and the KSA were pushing back the Rohingya to Bangladesh.

"I have read media reports about this. This is very unfortunate," he added.

"I have told our High Commissioner in Delhi to discuss the issue with India. We have also told BGB to discuss it with BSF," he noted.

Dr Momen said that Bangladesh gave shelter to such a huge number of Rohingya to avert the 'third-biggest genocide' in world history.

He urged the UNHCR to put pressure on Myanmar through its friendly countries so that repatriation can be expedited.

Earlier, the newly-appointed country representative of the UNHCR in Bangladesh Steven Corliss presented his credentials to Dr. Momen.

The presentation of the credentials was followed by a courtesy call on the minister.

Mr. Corliss replaces Shinji Kubo as the UNHCR country representative in Bangladesh. He served as the special adviser to the High Commissioner on Internal Displacement at the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva before assuming the charges in Dhaka.

The foreign minister highlighted Bangladesh's centuries-long ethos of putting humanity above all. He mentioned about the courageous decision of hosting over 1.1 million Rohingya by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

He, however, warned that the protracted presence of the Rohingya in Bangladesh might threaten peace and stability of the region and beyond.

He urged the international community including the UNHCR to put utmost efforts for the early repatriation of the Rohingya with dignity and safety.

He highlighted the Prime Minister's three-point proposal at the last UN General Assembly and the recommendations of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar and the Kofi Annan Commission.

The foreign minister urged the UNHCR representative to focus on addressing the root causes of the Rohingya crisis.

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