62 Rohingyas listed for resettlement in the US initially: Bangladesh

New Delhi: Bangladesh Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen said 62 displaced Rohingyas were primarily listed for resettlement in the United States. A small batch of them was likely to be flown to the United States from Dhaka on December 8, The New Age newspaper of Bangladesh reported.

It could be a first step for resetting the displaced Rohingyas spread over Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Bangkok and several other countries.

Foreign Minister said that he had requested his US counterpart to resettle at least one lakh Rohingyas as Bangladesh was hosting over 11 lakh displaced people of Myanmar since the 2017 influx amid the military crackdown on the ethnic community in Rakhine State.

Foreign Minister said the US was expected to relocate 300–800 Rohingyas annually to their land. Momen met with the US assistant secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, Julieta Valls Noyes, who was visiting Dhaka.

Julieta said that the United States supports voluntary, dignified and sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas, a solution Rohingyas and international communities wanted.

'We are proud to support the resettlement of the most vulnerable Rohingyas in our country,' Julieta said. Without giving any specific number and date, she told the third country resettlement in the United States would begin soon.

She said they had worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to identify the most vulnerable Rohingyas for resettlement in third countries.

The government of Japan, earlier on the Bangladesh Prime Minister's request, has extended an emergency aid grant of $2M to support the displaced Rohingya.

This contribution provides $1 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and $1 million to the World Food Programme (WFP), according to a press release issued by the Japanese embassy on Friday.

Bangladesh has requested Malaysia to continue support for Rohingya repatriation.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had called on the international community to pressure Myanmar over the Rohingya issue and spoke of meeting representatives of India, China, Thailand, Laos and other countries neighbouring Myanmar on the crisis.

Around 40 thousand Rohingyas are presently living in India without any documents, as there are only 5,500 Rohingyas that are registered with the UNHCR office in New Delhi.