UN chief to visit Rohingya camps in Bangladesh on Monday

Dhaka: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Sunday he will visit Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday to assess for himself the gravity of the problem.

Guterres said that the United Nations intends to ramp up prressure on Government of Myanmar to speed up the repatriation process.

“We’re keeping up pressure on Myanmar…we need to put more pressure on Myanmar to make them understand what they should do on this issue,” he was quoted by the Daily Star as saying during his meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her office.

Prime Minister Hasina’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told media here that Guterres had also said that the United Nations and the World Bank will continue their support to Bangladesh over the Rohingya issue.

Earlier, Prime Minister Hasina apprised both Guterres and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim about the current situation of the Rohingyas and mentioned that these people started entering Bangladesh in 1977.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has given shelter to 1.1 million Rohingyas only on humanitarian grounds and various services, including healthcare, are being provided to them. (ANI)