Dhaka: Judith Cefkin, US Senior Adviser to Myanmar, on a visit to Bangladesh said on Monday the condition in Myanmar is not yet right for voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya Muslim refugees from Bangladesh.
She further urged Bangladesh to continue humanitarian support and not send Rohingyas back to a place they are fleeing due to violence meted out to them.
Cefkin was on her first visit to Bangladesh since taking up the position at the State department last year. During her stay she met with senior Bangladesh officials including the Prime Minister’s International Affairs Adviser Gowher Rizvi and State Minister for Foreign affairs Md. Shahriar Alam.
They discussed how the US and Bangladesh could work together to support Myanmar’s reforms and development.
Bangladesh has given shelter to thousands of refugees who fled the Rakhine province after sectarian clashes over the years. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, put the number in Bangladesh at over 200,000 with 30,000 documented refugees living in two government-run camps within 2 km of the Myanmar border. While the Bangladesh government says more than 500,000 of them are living outside the camps.