Moon fears Rohingya crisis to be unbearable for Bangladesh

Former UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon on Wednesday warned that the Rohingya issue would eventually be an unbearable crisis for Bangladesh while he criticized Myanmar for its visible reluctance to take back the forcibly displaced people, reports state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha news agency.

“It is not possible for Bangladesh to host such a large number of Rohingyas for a long,” he told newsmen while visiting a Rohingya makeshift camp in southern Cox’s Bazar district.

Moon was accompanied by Marshal Island President Dr Hilda Heine and World Bank CEO Dr Kristaline Georgieva.

The former South Korean diplomat, Moon, who subsequently served as the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations for two consecutive terms from January 2007 to December 2016, said Rohingya appeared as a huge “burden” for a country like Bangladesh.

Ban described Myanmar’s role in repatriating Rohingya 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 Rohingya 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 Rohingya on humanitarian ground despite constrains of internal resources.

Moon sought harmonious solution to the Rohingya crisis through dignified and fearless return of the Myanmar nations and thanked the UN organizations for extending their humanitarian assistance to Rohingya.

The former UN chief arrived Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Tuesday 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 Rohingya.

“Bangladesh opened its border while its people open their heart to Rohingya,” Georgieva said.

Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen and Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister M Shahab Uddin accompanied the foreign dignitaries.

Heine, Moon 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 Rohingya people in Cox’s Bazar district 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.

Kamruzzaman