Former UN secretary general Ban-Ki-Moon on Wednesday expressed his fears that the Rohingya issue would eventually be an unbearable crisis for Bangladesh while he criticised Myanmar for its visible reluctance to take back the forcibly displaced people.
‘It is not possible for Bangladesh to host such a large number of Rohingyas for a long,’ he told newsmen while visiting a makeshift camp of theirs along with Marshal Island president Hilda Heine and World Bank CEO Kristaline Georgieva.
The former South Korean diplomat, Ban, who subsequently served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations for two consecutive terms from January 2007 to December 2016, said Rohingyas appeared as a huge ‘burden’ for a country like Bangladesh.
Ban described Myanmar’s role in repatriating Rohingyas was much less that what was expected as he visited the makeshift camps of the forcibly displaced people on the outskirts of this sea resort town.
‘Myanmar government should do much more so that Rohingyas can return to their homeland without fear and persecution,’ he said as the three high-profile dignitaries visited the Kutupalang Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar.
He, however, highly lauded prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Bangladeshis for extending refuge to more than 1.1 million Rohingyas on humanitarian ground despite constrains of internal resources.
Ban sought harmonious solution to the Rohingya crisis through dignified and fearless return of the Myanmar nations and thanked the UN organisations for extending their humanitarian assistance to Rohingyas.
The former UN chief arrived Dhaka yesterday to attend a meeting on climate change adaptation along with Heine and Georgieva.
The World Bank CEO also lauded the generosity of the Bangladeshi premier and Bangladeshi people for their generosity to the vulnerable Rohingyas.
‘Bangladesh opened its border while its people open their heart to Rohingyas,’ Georgieva said.
Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen and environment, forest and climate change minister M Shahab Uddin accompanied the foreign dignitaries.
Heine, Ban and Georgieva also planted separate saplings at the Rohingya camps as a gesture of their solidarity to these vulnerable displaced Myanmar nationals.
Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar and most of them arrived there since August 25, 2017 after a military crackdown by Myanmar, termed as ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’ by the UN.
