Dhaka: Bangladesh on Thursday asked Myanmar to ensure quick return of normalcy in its Buddhist-dominated Rakhine state so that it can repatriate thousands of Muslim refugees who have crossed the border to evade persecution amid an army crackdown.
"We have asked Naypyidaw to find out the real cause of the massive exodus of their minority ethnic people (Rohingyas) to Bangladesh to address the problem at its roots so they could return home at the earliest," Foreign Minister A H Mahmood Ali told a media briefing at his office.
He said the exodus of Rohingyas from Rakhine state was damaging "stability, economic development, and tourism" in Bangladesh's southeastern Chittagong region, especially in its sea resort town of Cox's Bazar.
Ali's comments came a day after Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi sent junior foreign Kyaw Tin as her envoy in an apparent effort to pacify Dhaka amid growing international criticism over the issue.
The UN, earlier this week, said at least 65,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh, a third of them over the past week since the army launched a crackdown in the north of Rakhine state.
"As of 5 January, an estimated 65,000 people are residing in registered camps, makeshift settlements and host communities in Cox's Bazaar," the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of UN said.
The latest spate of exodus began as Myanmar troops launched a campaign called "clearance operations" while searching for 'insurgents' behind the deadly raids on police border posts in October last year.
Suu Kyi's envoy held talks with Foreign Minister Ali and foreign secretary M Shahidul Haque and called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Officials familiar with the meetings said Dhaka sent through him a strong message demanding steps for early repatriation of the Rohingyas.
A Prime Minister's office spokesman earlier said Bangladesh Premier Hasina renewed her call to Myanmar to take back its nationals as visiting junior Myanmar minister called on her last evening.
"She (Hasina) also reiterated Bangladesh's 'zero tolerance policy' against terrorism and mentioned that Bangladesh won't allow its soil to be used for terrorist acts against any of its neighbours as the Myanmar minister called on her," premier's press secretary Ihsanul Karim told reporters.
Ali, in his briefing, said Bangladesh hoped that a solution to the persistent crisis would be reached through discussions between the two countries.
Muslim minority escapees from Mayanmar have given harrowing accounts of security forces committing violence casting a pall over Aung San Suu Kyi's young government. Myanmar said the claims of abuse are fabricated and has launched a special commission to investigate the allegations.
