Bangladesh has global support: Mahmud Ali

Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmud Ali on Sunday said the country has global support in handling the surge of Myanmar refugees crisis. The minister addressing the media after a meeting with diplomats at the State Guest House Padma in Dhaka.
“All the countries praised our effort for the role in the crisis. The world is with Bangladesh on this,” Ali said.
Many people described the ongoing Army-led security clampdown in Rakhine as ‘genocide’. “But it remains to be a problem of Myanmar and they themselves will have to resolve it while we said we are ready to assist,” the minister added.

A foreign office statement of Bangladesh, meanwhile, said first of the two diplomatic briefings was joined by envoys of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Norway, Netherlands, USA, UK and EU and representatives from UN Resident Coordinator, UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, IOM, ICRC.
The second briefing was attended by the ambassadors of Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The statement said the Ali told the diplomats and UN officials that Bangladesh was hosting 4,00,000 Rohingyas for the past three decades and the current spate of surge has elevated their number to 7 lakh to create huge challenge for Dhaka in terms of providing shelter as well as other humanitarian assistance to them.
“The Foreign Minister also highlighted Bangladesh’s efforts to address the security concerns of Myanmar particularly by proposing MOUs in 2014 on Border Liaison Office and Security Dialogue,” it read.
Ali told the envoy that Bangladesh also proposed joint inspection, coordinated patrolling of border and joint operation along the border but, “unfortunately Myanmar has not responded to these proposals”.
“Rather, they have been running a malicious propaganda terming the Rohingyas as ‘illegal migrants from Bangladesh’ and the attackers to their BGP posts as ‘Bengali terrorists’,” the statement quoted him as saying.
Ali told the foreign diplomats that Bangladesh always preferred bilateral solution to this long-standing problem and was successful in repatriating 2,36,599 Rohingyas to their homeland through a bilateral agreement in 1992.
The foreign minister referred to the recently published Kofi Annan Commission report and urged the international community to pursue the Myanmar government for “immediate and unconditional implementation of the recommendations of this report in its entirety for permanent solution to this crisis”.
He also requested the international community to help Bangladesh with urgent humanitarian assistance to address the current crisis, support for transportation of the Rohingyas to Bhashan Char, as well as to provide political support to ensure sustainable return of all Myanmar nationals to their homes in Myanmar.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, the foreign secretary and other senior officials joined Ali in the briefings.
Earlier at Sunday, Bangladesh ruling party Awami League general secretary and minister Obaidul Quader particularly sought “crucial” Indian support in handling the Rohingya.
Ali claims that about 3,000 people have lost their lives in violence against Rakhine Rohingyas in Myanmar.