Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday told Parliament that Bangladesh would place its proposals on future action plans, including the review of progress over the Rohingya crisis in different multilateral meetings during the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), reports UNB.
The PM said this while replying to a starred question from Jatiya Party MP Nurul Islam Milon (Cumilla-8).
"Besides", she said, "We'll have talks over the issue with different important world leaders on the sideline meetings of the UNGA."
Sheikh Hasina said she placed a five-point proposal in the 72nd UNGA in resolving the Rohingya problem immediate after starting of ethnic atrocities against Rohingya since August 25, 2017.
"The international community accepted my proposals cordially," she said.
She also said Bangladesh allowed the influx of forcibly displaced Rohingyas keeping the border open actively responding to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
She, however, said, "There's no scope for long-term stay of Rohingyas in Bangladesh. We want to repatriate them at the earliest."
Hasina said safe, respectful and sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland will be possible through the Awami League government's diplomatic efforts.
Mentioning that Bangladesh provided shelter to 1.1 million Rohingyas, she said, "Their stay in Bangladesh has created a risk of human trafficking, drug smuggling and other orchestrated crimes."
The displaced Rohingyas have created a huge negative impact on local communities and ecology in Cox's Bazar, she said adding that the risk of environmental disaster has emerged due to deforestation in the reserved land and cutting hills massively.
Besides, the PM said, the possibility of breakout of diphtheria, polio and HIV (Aids) and other communicable diseases has appeared.
She said the Rohingya crisis first started in Myanmar in 1978-'79 and the influx of Rohingyas to Bangladesh began.
But the crisis continued due to the failure of the then military ruler in handling the problem.
In reply to a supplementary question from treasury bench member Dhirendra Debnath Shambhu (Barguna-1), the PM said Bangladesh had also experienced the influx of Rohingyas in the 1980s.
Later, several lakh Rohingyas entered Bangladesh in 1991 and 1992 during the BNP regime.
Though Bangladesh could repatriate some Rohingyas through talks with Myanmar, some of them remained in Bangladesh, she said.
"But our diplomatic success is here that we could create international opinion that Rohingyas were victims of injustice and it is duty of Myanmar to let them go back to their own country," said the Prime Minister.
