Rohingya refugees gather in the rain to demand safe return to Myanmar's Rakhine state as they mark the seventh anniversary of their mass exodus at their refugee camp at Kutupalong in Bangladesh on Aug. 25, 2024. - AP
DHAKA: Dhaka reiterated on Sunday (Sept 8) that it cannot accommodate any new influx of Rohingyas, urging countries and organisations recommending further intake to share the burden themselves, according to Bangladesh state media.
"We have made it clear to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that it is not possible for us to take in more Rohingyas," Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain told reporters at the foreign ministry here on Sunday, reported Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
He noted that the UNHCR had requested Bangladesh to shelter new arrivals, which the government has firmly declined.
Hossain pointed that Bangladesh has already extended more support than expected, hosting 1.2 million Rohingyas on humanitarian grounds.
"Those who come to us with advice or those who want to advise us - let them take the Rohingyas," he said.
The adviser also mentioned that the government is working to prevent further Rohingyas entries where possible, though sealing the border with Myanmar completely remains a challenge.
On Sept 3, Hossain noted that around 8,000 Rohingyas had recently entered Bangladesh, fleeing armed conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
Hossain noted that the border with Myanmar has been sealed, but acknowledged the difficulty of completely securing the frontier.
Since Aug 25 in 2017, Bangladesh has been hosting over million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar district and most of them arrived there after a military crackdown by Myanmar, which the United Nations (UN) called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and other rights groups dubbed it as "genocide".
In the last seven years, not a single Rohingyas went back home.
Myanmar agreed to accept the return of the Rohingyas, but repatriation attempts have failed twice due to the Rohingyas' concerns about their safety and security in Rakhine State. - Bernama-BSS
