US team due Tuesday to hold talks on Rohingyas in Bangladesh

A four-member US team, looking for ways to help the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh improve their living standards, is scheduled to arrive here on Tuesday on a three-day visit to Bangladesh.

The team members are Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Joseph Y Yun, Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alyssa Ayres, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration Kelly Clements, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Daniel Baer.

The team is now in the Rakhine state of Myanmar figuring out the conditions of the Rohingyas after the recent sectarian violence there.

According to Foreign Ministry sources, the US team arrived in Myanmar on September 8.

During their visit to Bangladesh, they will hold talks with government officials and representatives of international organisations for finding out the role of the USA government to help improve the living conditions of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, not to repatriate them.

US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan W Mozena will be with the team during their visit to Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar.

Since the sectarian violence erupted in Myanmar's Rakhine state in June, countless Rohingyas are trying to enter Bangladesh through Teknaf border but Bangladesh did not accept them as it is already overpopulated although there were calls from different quarters to shelter them on humanitarian grounds.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina repeatedly said Bangladesh cannot afford to allow in any more Rohingyas fleeing persecution in the neighbouring Myanmar. She said Bangladesh is already overpopulated and it was not its responsibility to help all those coming in from across the border.

Some 25,000 Rohingyas, who took shelter in the two refugee camps in Cox's Bazar two decades back, are still living in Bangladesh instead of returning back. Besides, nearly 4 lakh unregistered Rohingyas are staying in Bangladesh.

Sources Here: