DHAKA: European Union (EU) stressed over implementation of the recommendations of Ex-UN Chief Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, in a bid to send back the Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar.

“Myanmar must repatriate the Rohingyas to their homeland without obstruction and with safety”, said EU Ambassador and delegation chief to Bangladesh Rensje Teerink.

She was speaking at a discussion of Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB), at a city hotel Wednesday (October 18). 

Citing that EU’s recent ban imposed on Myanmar army officers is a symbolic protest, she said that Myanmar must solve the Rohingya crisis.

“The influx of large number of refugees has created a humanitarian crisis here (in Bangladesh). We all should cooperate to thwart this problem.” 

EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides will come to Dhaka on October 30, she said.

He will visit Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camps on October 31.

Later, he will speak about EU’s stance upon the crisis.

The newly appointed EU ambassador to Bangladesh Rensje Teerink further said that EU will send observatory representatives during the upcoming parliamentary polls here, if Bangladesh invites.  

However, DCAB President Rezaul Karim Lotus chaired the discussion while its Secretary General Pantha Rahman directed it.

BDST: 1720 HRS, OCT 18, 2017
SI/SMS