Refugee problem can be solved through talks, says Hasina

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the ongoing Rohingya refugee problem could be solved through her five-point proposal placed at the UN General Assembly on September 21 last.
“We don’t want any war; we believe all the problems can be solved through discussions. The Rohingya problem also can be solved in light of the five-point proposal that we’ve placed at the United Nations,” she said.
Prime Minister Hasina said this while receiving cheques of donations to her Relief and Welfare Fund from the leaders of Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) at her office.
PM’s press secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the programme.
Hasina said her proposals include ending ethnic conflicts, sending UN fact-finding mission to Rakhine State in Myanmar, sending back the forcibly evicted Rohingya people after ensuring their proper security and immediate and unconditional implementation of the Kofi Annan Commission’s recommendations.
Referring to the influx of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals into Bangladesh, the prime minister said the government gave shelter to the Rohingya refugees on humanitarian grounds. “It would be inhumane if we don’t stand beside the Rohingya during their time of distress.”
Recalling the miserable days of Bangladeshi refugees during the Liberation War in 1971, the prime minister said Rohingya people are facing the same kind of oppression that Pakistani occupational forces had inflicted on Bangladeshi people.
“At that time, 30mn people of the country were displaced and 10mn people took refuge in
India,” she said.
The prime minister said the people of remote areas of Bangladesh have extended their support and assistance to the
Rohingya.
Referring to the efforts of the members of armed forces, Border Guard Bangladesh, police and her party volunteers for helping the Rohingya, she said the government will ensure their health, sanitation, education, security and other facilities through rehabilitating them into
Bhasan Char.
“We’re taking steps to move them into a safe place, where we’re constructing multipurpose cyclone shelters,” Hasina said.
Terming militancy as an international problem, the prime minister said Bangladesh also witnessed militant incidents and the government put them down with an iron hand.