Myanmar security adviser arrives in Dhaka
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| Myanmar National Security Adviser U Thaung Tun Associated Press |
By Syed Zainul Abedin
July 3, 2017
Rohingya repatriation is expected to be a key issue in Myanmar National Security Adviser U Thaung Tun's meetings here
Myanmar’s National Security Adviser U Thaung Tun arrived in Dhaka around 12pm on Sunday in a three-day official visit.
Director General of South-east Asia wing at the foreign ministry Manjurul Karim and Bangladesh Ambassador to Myanmar Shafiur Rahman received him at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
U Thaung Tun is scheduled to hold meetings with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali at the state guest house Padma at 7pm.
A Foreign Ministry official, requesting anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that several issues including security and Rohingya crisis will be highlighted at the discussion.
Bangladesh will offer a proposal for repatriation of the Rohingya people to Myanmar, the official added.
Thaung will also hold meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Home Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.
U Thaung Tun is a career diplomat who has served as Myanmar’s ambassador to various countries and the European Union in his 40 years of service.
The position of national security adviser was created by the Myanmar government in January and is seen as a response to the various ethnic conflicts in its border states.
Hundreds of thousands of undocumented Rohingyas are believed to be living in Bangladesh, outside the two designated refugee camps. As many as 75,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh to escape persecution in Myanmar after its military launched a crackdown in October last year.
About a million Rohingya Muslims live in apartheid-like conditions in squalid camps in northwestern Rakhine state, where they are denied citizenship and basic rights. Many in the Buddhist-majority country regard them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
