Rohingya repatriation won’t start overnight

Hinting that the commencement of repatriation of the Rohingya refugees would take a longer period than announced earlier, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque has said considering the complexity of the situation one should not expect that the process would start overnight.

He said these while talking to the newsmen on the sidelines of an international conference - 'Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Towards a Sustainable Solution' - that concluded in the capital on Tuesday.

Highlighting the government's efforts to expedite the process, he also said the social welfare minister of Myanmar will come to Bangladesh on April 11 to discuss the Rohingya crisis.

During his three-day stay the minister will visit the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar.

Responding to a question whether taking the issue to international forums would hinder the bilateral negotiation with Myanmar, he said during the initiation of bilateral discussion with Myanmar they were told that Bangladesh would raise the issue in international forums.

"We have told them about it, and they did not raise any objection. So, in this case it will not create any problem," Mr Haque said.

The foreign secretary also informed that Rohingya crisis would be prominently featured during his meeting with the newly-appointed Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale, who will visit Dhaka on April 8.

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