Rohingya refugees wait for food at Thaingkhali camp in Ukhia, Bangladesh (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Senior officials from Myanmar and Bangladesh met onJanuary 15 in Nay Pyi Taw to discuss how to settle issues over the repatriationof Rohingya refugees to Myanmar.During the event, participants had final negotiations onmeasures to repatriate more than 650,000 Rohingya people and logistics issues.Win Myat Aye, Minister of Social Welfare, Relief andResettlement, said that camps to house around 5,000 Rohingya refugees returningfrom Bangladesh will be ready by January 22 The two governments signed an agreement in November 2017 onthe return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh.Myanmar affirmed that it was ready to receive the Rohingyaas soon as possible after receiving personal information forms of thereturners.At least 650,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh to avoidviolence in Rakhine state since gunmen attacked 24 police posts and broke intoa military outpost in Rakhine on August 25, 2017.-VNA
Rohingya refugees wait at a relief centre after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in the Teknaf area, Bangladesh, November 23, 2017 (Photo Reuters/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Myanmar and Bangladesh have agreed to takeassistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC) to repatriatehundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Bangladesh to Myanmar.BangladeshForeign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said on November 25 that the threesides will establish a joint working group within three weeks to fix the termsfor the repatriation of Rohingya Muslims.Thepriority is to ensure safety, he said, adding that Rohingya people willinitially have to live in temporary shelters or camps after…... [read more]
The plight of Rohingya refugees is the backdrop to Pope Francis' landmark visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh this week. But in the vast refugee camps on the border, there is puzzlement, with many asking: "Who is he?"The head of the Catholic church has repeatedly spoken out in support of the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority who have fled to Bangladesh in their hundreds of thousands, bringing with them allegations of murders, rapes and arson committed by the Myanmar military.This week he met Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi and army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who is accused of overseeing brutal…... [read more]
Tillerson is expected to meet Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, to discuss recent violence in Rakhine state, which has forced over 600,000 Rohingya ethnics, mainly women and children, to flee to Bangladesh.US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (Source: VNA)At this meeting, Tillerson will urge an end to violence in the state so that Rohingya refugees could return home, a senior US State Department official said.The US Secretary of State will also meet State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi who plays a core role in stabilising the situation in Rakhine.Violence flared up in Rakhine state…... [read more]
The European Union and the United States are considering targeted sanctions against Myanmar military leaders over an offensive that has driven more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims out of the country, officials familiar with the discussions say. Interviews with more than a dozen diplomats and government officials based in Washington, Yangon and Europe revealed that punitive measures aimed specifically at top generals were among a range of options being discussed in response to the crisis. Nothing has yet been decided and Washington and Brussels may decide to hold off for now, the sources said. There are also discussions about increasing aid…... [read more]
Rohingya Muslim refugees line up to receive food at a distribution area at Balukhali refugee camp near the town of Gumdhum in Cox's Bazar (Photo AFP)Hanoi (VNA) – Myanmar and Bangladeshhave discussed measures to ensure safety for the repatriation of hundreds ofthousands of Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar in recent times.At a meeting in Bangladesh’s Dhaka capital on October 2, Bangladeshi Foreign MinisterAbul Hassan Mahmood Ali and Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor ofMyanmar Kyaw Tint Swe agreed to set up a joint working group to coordinate therepatriation process.The same day, the Ministry of Foreign…... [read more]
