Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen warned on Tuesday if anyone tries to impede the process of repatriation of the Rohingya refugees to their homeland Myanmar, the government would take action against them.
"Some steps have been taken to stop propaganda and provocation and we are also scrutinising some other measures," he said, reaffirming that the government sticks to the principle of voluntary repatriation.
The foreign minister was responding to questions of journalists after his meeting with the executive committee members of the Diplomatic Correspondents' Association of Bangladesh (DCAB) at the conference room of the ministry in the city.
The foreign minister pointed out that the Bhasan Char island project was initiated with a view to easing the congestion in Cox's Bazar camps.
"As we had a forecast of monsoon onslaught in that area, our prime minister wanted to save the Rohingya from landslide and that is why she ordered to provide them with better shelter in Bhasan Char," the minister explained.
"That place has better facility. Rohingya will have employment opportunity there. And it is well-protected. But some international agencies are not interested in going there, perhaps they are habituated with the five-star hotel facilities in Cox's Bazar. If the Rohingya do not want to go there, we shall not force them," Dr Momen added.
In this regard, he commented that shifting 0.1 million Rohingya to Bhasan Char is not the permanent solution.
"The main goal of the government is to send back these Rohingya refugees to their houses in northern Rakhine. And we are working to achieve that goal," he said.
Asked to comment on the threat made by the Assam finance minister that there were huge Bangladeshis among those who were excluded in the NRC (National Register of Citizens) and they would be sent back to Bangladesh, Dr Momen said that the government of Bangladesh does not need to bother about this as it is an internal matter of India.
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