Brazilian Ambassador Paulo Fernando Dias Feres has said that with 1.1 million Rohingyas refugees taking shelter in Bangladesh and over 5,000 babies being born every year in the camps, the situation tends to get worse if not solved.
“And the solution for the Rohingya is that they should return to Myanmar as soon as the situation allows,” he said at the DCAB Talk organized by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) on Thursday.
The ambassador replied to the questions related to the bilateral relations, regional and global issues at the event with DCAB President Nurul Islam Hasib in chair. DCAB General Secretary Ashiqur Rahman Apu also spoke.
He asked all to keep the Rohingya issue alive.
“We kept it (Rohingya) under the attention of the Security Council when we presided over it. We said this is important for them. So don't drop it, don't let it go away,” the ambassador said.
“It’s a problem that the international community should address. We should help Bangladesh until this is solved. They have to be repatriated. They cannot stay here forever. I know it's a problem for Bangladesh. While we presided over the Security Council, we did not drop the issue. We kept it alive,” he said.
“Our position is that the solution for the problem is repatriation. There's no other way out of this. We understand that this is a huge problem for the country with 1.1 million people right now and 5,000 babies are born every year. So it's a problem that tends to get worse if you don't find a final solution for it.
“If you look at it from a humane point of view, what else would you do? I think that Bangladesh is doing a great job with the Rohingyas. I think Bangladesh is doing the right thing. And this is not going to be forgotten in the future.”
“When the situation normalizes, I think that all the help you are giving them, it adds to the country's credentials,” he said.
“You have the war in Ukraine. You have the crisis in the Middle East. There are so many crises overlapping at the moment. You know, that people tend to think about some of them and forget about the others.
“But I know that you have to keep doing what you're doing, and the countries that you can work with should help you to keep this thing floating until the situation can be solved,” he said.
Indo-Pacific, BRI
The ambassador also replied to the question related to the US’s Indo-Pacific strategy and the China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The US is pursuing the Indo-Pacific strategy in the region while China has taken belt and road initiative (BRI) in the region to help countries build infrastructures. Both are seen conflicting against each other.
“We haven't stated any loud and clear position on any of this,” the ambassador said when asked.
“We are observing what's going on,” he said, adding that “when the powers are in action, they are doing their game. It has consequences. This is my personal view.”
“Everything will depend on how the relationship (of the US) with China evolves. You know, people keep talking about the possible war between the United States and China. I hope they don't get there, because if they do, it's going to be a nasty one,” he said.
“But if you consider all the possibilities, the real possibility, my view is that, like, it's not going to happen, at least not in the short term, he said, “because there are many forces to counter this sort of confrontation, and the United States has its problems right now, and China also has problems right now.”
