Bangladesh Looks To Malaysia's Influence To Address Rohingya Crisis
By Voon Miaw Ping
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- Bangladesh is seeking Malaysia's influence, particularly its role as ASEAN Chair, to rally international efforts to address the prolonged Rohingya refugee crisis in the country.
Chief Adviser to Bangladesh's government Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus said Malaysia's experience in hosting Rohingya refugees coupled with its leadership position in ASEAN places it in a unique position to push for a comprehensive regional solution.
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'We are hoping that Malaysia will put its influence in the whole negotiation to make sure that we can overcome this problem,' he told the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) in a special interview before concluding his official visit to Malaysia.
The interview with the 2006 Nobel Prize laureate was led by Editor-in-Chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj, Editor of International News Service Voon Miaw Ping, and Assistant Editor of Economic News Service Kisho Kumari Sucedaram.
Yunus also warned that the refugee crisis has deepened amid ongoing fighting in Myanmar's Rakhine state between the Arakan Army and government forces, forcing fresh waves of Rohingyas fleeing across the border into Bangladesh.
'In the last 18 months alone, 150,000 new Rohingyas have arrived, in addition to the 1.2 million already in Bangladesh.
'It becomes more and more acute. And worst of it, the US cut off all the funds to maintain them. So that is a huge problem for us,' he said.
The Chief Adviser said three international conferences on the Rohingya will be convened in the coming months to seek a sustainable solution.
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