Bangladesh and Myanmar will be more engaged with each other in an attempt to solve the Rohingya issue in the border areas.
“I am told that the Myanmar president has given an indication that we should move in that direction. We have submitted an MoU [on security dialogue]. Hopefully that will be signed this time around and we will have focused discussions on security issues that are hurting the relationship between us and them, including the issue of the movement of the people in that area,” said Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Huq.
He was speaking at a seminar titled “Contemporary Thoughts on Enhancing Bangladesh-Myanmar Relations” organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies in the city, yesterday.
A delegation from the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies (MISIS) also attended the programme.
Last year, Shahidul had proposed having the security dialogue during the foreign secretary-level meeting between Bangladesh and Myanmar in Dhaka. The Myanmar deputy foreign minister will come to Dhaka to have a foreign office consultation on June 18.
The foreign secretary said the Rohingya issue is a problem in the bilateral relationship and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during her meeting with Myanmar President U Thein Sein, had formally offered Bangladesh’s assistance in solving it.
Hasina also offered economic assistance and expertise, if needed, to improve the situation in the Rakhine state, Shahidul said. “For the past year, the foreign office has tried to create a space to have a dialogue to build the trust,” he added.
Shahidul said the main problem between the two countries is a deficit of trust, stating, “That is the main issue...The most important thing is to change the mindset.”
Bangladesh has shown all kinds of positive gestures as the prime minister has directed everyone “to create the most and best possible relationship with Myanmar,” said the foreign secretary.
Chiefs of three forces – army, navy and air – visited Myanmar while the Myanmar naval chief already visited Dhaka and the air force chief will be visiting Bangladesh, he said.
Director General of the Border Guard of Bangladesh will be going to Myanmar next month after a gap of five or six years to increase engagement between the countries in order to secure the border, he added.
For the first time in 42 years, a Myanmar Frigate was allowed to cross the Naf River into Bangladesh and it is expected that Naypyidaw will reciprocate such a positive gesture, Shahidul said.
A member of the MISIS, Ambassador U Wynn Lwin said Bangladesh, Myanmar and the UNHCR have agreed that after verification, Rohingyas in Bangladesh will be accepted by the Myanmar side and the process to give them citizenship will begin.
He said many Rohingyas have rejected the recent census in which they should have been accepted.
