Bangladesh's foreign minister called on developed countries to take in more Rohingya on a humanitarian basis. Some 700,000 Rohingyas crossed the border to escape mass killings and gang rapes by the Myanmar army.

Rohingya refugee girls cross a makeshift bamboo bridge at Kutupalong refugee camp, where they have been living amid uncertainty over their future after they fled Myanmar to escape violence a year ago, in Bangladesh. August 28, 2018.
Rohingya refugee girls cross a makeshift bamboo bridge at Kutupalong refugee camp, where they have been living amid uncertainty over their future after they fled Myanmar to escape violence a year ago, in Bangladesh. August 28, 2018. (AP)

Bangladesh has no plans to take in hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees permanently, its foreign secretary said on Wednesday, adding that they “belong” to Myanmar from where they fled.

Some 700,000 Rohingya refugees crossed from the west of mostly Buddhist Myanmar into Bangladesh from August last year, according to UN agencies, when Rohingya insurgent attacks on Myanmar security forces triggered a sweeping military response, which has been called a "genocide" by the UN.

Bangladesh and Myanmar reached a deal in November to begin repatriation within two months, but it has not started, with stateless Rohingya still crossing the border. 

“We are not thinking of assimilating them in Bangladesh. They belong to Myanmar,” Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Hanoi.

He also called on developed countries to take in more Rohingya on a humanitarian basis.

The Rohingya would stay in refugee camps until they return to Myanmar or are resettled in other countries, Haque said.

UN investigators last month said Myanmar’s military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya with “genocidal intent,” and that the commander-in-chief and five generals should be prosecuted for the gravest crimes under international law.

Myanmar has denied allegations of atrocities, saying its military carried out justifiable actions against militants. It has built transit centres for refugees to return, but UN aid agencies say it is not yet safe for them to do so.

The Rohingya in Bangladesh are housed in camps in Cox’s Bazar. With a delay in the repatriation plan, Bangladesh has been preparing new homes on a remote island called Bhasan Char, which rights groups have said could be subject to flooding.

Haque said the island could be ready within months for the Rohingya to move in, adding that the plan to house the Rohingya there was only temporary.

Bangladesh’s prime minister this month urged the global community to increase pressure on Myanmar to ensure the repatriation of the Rohingya.

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi addresses participants during the opening session of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN on September 12, 2018 in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi addresses participants during the opening session of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN on September 12, 2018 in Hanoi, Vietnam. (AP)

Suu Kyi to skip UN General Assembly session

A senior Myanmar official has confirmed that the country's leader, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, will not attend the UN General Assembly session beginning next week in New York.

Suu Kyi, who took power in 2016, also did not attend last year's General Assembly meeting. 

The news comes as Myanmar's military faces international pressure over human rights abuses committed against the Rohingya Muslim minority. 

The Rohingya crisis is expected to be a major theme of discussions at the General Assembly. 

Instead, two senior ministers in her government, Kyaw Tint Swe and Kyaw Tin would attend and "explain current developments on repatriation and cooperation with international organisations," the official, permanent secretary Myint Thu, said.

Source: TRTWorld and agencies