Myanmar to start reviewing names of 5.5 lakh Rohingyas soon: Khalilur
Chief Adviser’s High Representative Dr. Khalilur Rahman today said the Myanmar authorities will soon start the process of reviewing the names of 5.5 lakh Rohingyas.
He disclosed this information at a press briefing at Foreign Service Academy here this afternoon.
Dr Khalilur said he held a meeting with U Than Shew, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Myanmar, on the sidelines of the sixth BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok.
Claiming that there was a progress on Rohingya issue, he said the Myanmar authorities identified 180,000 Rohingyas out of 2,50,000 eligible for return to Myanmar.
There were some confusion over the names and photos of 70,000 Rohingyas, and Bangladesh and Myanmar will continue talks to resolve the confusions, he said.
The high representative said Bangladesh sent a list of 800,000 Rohingyas to Myanmar in six batches during 2018-20.
He said the Myanmar authorities told him that they would conclude the review of the remaining 5.5 lakh as soon as possible.
About the outcomes of the BIMSTEC Summit, Dr Khalilur said Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has been elected the chairman of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) for the next two years and he vowed to advance the BIMSTEC as a dynamic organisation.
Mentioning that the BIMSTEC secretariat is now located in Dhaka, he said: “We hope that we would be able to work together”.
He said there was no progress in much-talked about Free Trade Agreement (FTA) among the BIMSTEC member states but Dhaka will commence efforts to accelerate the process.
During the BIMSTEC summit, an agreement on maritime transport cooperation was signed among the member states, the high representative said.
“We hope that maritime transportation, port management and regional cooperation will be strengthened. Connectivity will be improved (among the member states),” he added.
The sixth BIMSTEC Summit was recently held in Bangkok, Thailand.