Bangladesh to ask Myanmar to stop pushback

Dhaka, Dec 19 (bdnews24.com) -- Bangladesh will put pressure on Myanmar to stop pushback of Rohingya people across border at the upcoming foreign secretary level talks, foreign secretary said Saturday.

Bangladesh foreign secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes will receive his Myanmar counterpart U Maung Mynt on December 28 for a two-day bilateral talks.

"We will talk on repatriation of Rohingya refugees and stopping pushback by Myanmar," Quayes told reporters at a press briefing at the foreign ministry.

"In addition to 29,000 refugees living in the camps, some 300,000 people have intruded into Bangladesh over the past several years."

"We will stress on improving the situation in Myanmar so that exodus of the people stops," the foreign secretary said.

Repatriation of Rohingya refugees has remained a major issue for discussion between the two countries since 1992 when over a million people from Myanmar's Northern Rakhain state from crackdown on its Muslim Rohingyas in the bordering Bangladesh.

The two neighbours with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees repatriated most of the refugees, but about 29,000 people have refused to go back to their homes in Myanmar fearing further repressive actions by the military.

According to the government officials, most of the "repatriated" Rohingya refugees returned to Bangladesh as human rights and economic situation has not improved in their ancestral homes.

Quayes also said a Myanmar delegation was scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on the second week of January to discuss the maritime boundary demarcation disputes with Bangladesh.

He, however, said besides the bilateral talks, Dhaka will continue with its legal fight in the UN tribunal to settle the maritime disputes with India and Myanmar.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have claims on overlapping offshore blocks in the Bay of Bengal. India and Myanmar have counter claims on 19 out of total 27 sea blocks of Bangladesh. Dhaka has been in negotiations with the two countries for years, but the bilateral talks ended with no tangible results.

The Awami League led government a few months back went to the UN tribunal to settle the maritime disputes. The government hopes that the issue will be resolved through the UN tribunal in four to five years.

"Certainly, we will be discussing the issues of trade, investment and banking facilities between the two countries," said Quayes, in reply to a question.