U.N. Special Envoy on Myanmar Julie Bishop paid a courtesy call to Bangladesh Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed at the Secretariat in the capital Dhaka to discuss Rohingya refugee repatriation on Monday.
The bilateral discussions focused on Myanmar’s deteriorating political and security landscape, the escalating Rohingya humanitarian crisis, and security challenges along the 168 mile (271 km) Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed emphasized that Bangladesh faces an ongoing socio-economic and security strain from hosting hundreds of thousands of “Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals.”
Bangladesh hosts 1.2 million Rohingya from Myanmar in refugee camps located in Cox’s Bazaar and Bhasan Char, an island off the country’s coast.
Urging stronger global engagement, Ahmed called on the international community to play a decisive role in achieving a sustainable and permanent resolution through safe, voluntary, and dignified Rohingya refugee repatriation to Myanmar’s Arakan State.
In response, Bishop highlighted her ongoing diplomatic engagements with stakeholders in Myanmar aimed at halting armed conflict in Arakan between the military and the Arakan Army (AA) and establishing robust civilian protection mechanisms inside Myanmar.
Both delegations voiced serious concern over the mounting regional and global threats posed by landmine proliferation, human trafficking networks, and illicit drug smuggling along the shared border.
Ministry of Home Affairs Additional Secretary Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed, Joint Secretary Rebeka Khan, U.N. Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Carol Flore-Smereczniak, Senior Political Affairs Officer Duncan Keith Wilson, and UNHCR Bangladesh Deputy Representative Juliette Murekeyisoni, attended the meeting.
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