WNAM MONITORING: Bangladesh on Monday said it will not allow more Rohingya community members to enter its territory, clarifying that around 60,000 refugees had entered the South Asian nation in the past two years.
“We will no longer allow any more Rohingya to enter under any circumstances,” Home Affairs Adviser Lt. Gen. (retired) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury told reporters in Dhaka.
Chowdhury also clarified a statement made by Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain regarding the recent influx of Rohingya into Bangladesh.
“Over the past one and a half to two years, 60,000 Rohingya have entered the country,” he said, correcting Hossain’s earlier statement.
Hossain had said that 60,000 Rohingya had entered Bangladesh in just the past two months.
He was briefing reporters on Sunday in Dhaka following his visit to Thailand, where he attended an informal consultation meeting with representatives of Laos, Thailand, India, China and Myanmar.
According to Chowdhury: “The Myanmar border is now entirely under the control of the Arakan Army. While informal communication with them is possible, there is no scope for official discussions. We are working to resolve this issue (Rohingya crisis) as soon as possible.”
Bangladesh is hosting over 1.2 million Rohingya in its southeastern Cox’s Bazar district. Most of the Rohingya Muslims fled from Myanmar in August 2017 in a military crackdown.
Separately, dozens of Rohingya organizations on Monday called for “justice, equality, peaceful coexistence, and inclusive governance” in Rakhine state on Myanmar’s western coast as the conflict between military junta forces and the rebel Arakan Army escalates.
Some 28 Rohingya organizations issued a joint statement on Monday calling on the rebel Arakan Army, which has taken control of Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships in northern Rakhine, to “uphold and respect the rights of the Rohingya and all ethnic and religious minorities” in the troubled state that borders Bangladesh.
