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B'desh home minister to visit Myanmar to discuss Rohingya

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Press Trust of India Dhaka
Bangladesh's home minister will travel to Myanmar on October 23 for talks on the quick repatriation of Rohingya Muslim refugees, who fled into this country after they were forcibly ousted from their homes in the Rakhine state.

The three-day visit of Asaduzzaman Khan was planned last week when Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi sent to Dhaka a senior representative for talks amid mounting global outrage and agreed in principle to take back the victims of forced exodus.

The crisis has seen more than half a million Rohingya refugees cross into Bangladesh in just six weeks.

"Quick repatriation of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas is the main agenda," Asaduzzaman told newsmen announcing his visit from October 23-25.
 

He said the nine-member Bangladeshi delegation would also like to visit the Rakhine state, the scene of the violence, "if the Myanmar government allows us".

Khans announcement came two days after Bangladesh accused Myanmar of spearheading a violent depopulation campaign to push into Bangladesh the entire Rohingya community branding them as "Islamist terrorists".

Over half a million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh since the Myanmar Army crackdown was launched on August 25.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al- Hussein had described the Myanmar operations as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and said the action appeared to be "a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return".

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First Published: Oct 12 2017 | 8:48 PM IST

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