Hasina says Rohingya refugee crisis worsening

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019. (AP)
  • Voluntary return of the Rohingyas to their homes in Rakhine state in safety, security and dignity is the only solution to the crisis

NEW YORK: Warning that a wider regional problem is at hand, Bangladesh’s leader said on Friday that the crisis involving Muslim Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar is “going beyond the camps” where they are staying.
In Bangladesh’s annual address to the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appealed to the international community to “understand the untenability of the situation” surrounding the refugees from Myanmar, who are fleeing persecution by the military there.
“I would request the international community to understand the untenability of the situation,” Hasina said. “The crisis is now going beyond the camps. Despite all our efforts to contain it, the crisis is now becoming a regional threat.”
She said that health and security are becoming problems as congestion and environmental problems increase.
She said Bangladesh will continue to work with Myanmar to encourage repatriation of the Rohingya. She has proposed at the UN this week a resolution ensuring that Myanmar and the international community must ensure the safety of any Rohingya returnees.
“We are bearing the burden of a crisis which is Myanmar’s own making,” Hasina said. “It is an issue solely between Myanmar and its own people, the Rohingyas. They themselves have to resolve it. Voluntary return of the Rohingyas to their homes in Rakhine state in safety, security and dignity is the only solution to the crisis.”