Myanmar, Bangladesh to consult on villagers who fled to Bangladesh

January 12, 2017

Myanmar and Bangladesh have agreed to start consultations for verification and repatriation of those who are proved to have fled from Myanmar following the 9 October attacks against police outposts, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday.

The ministry released the statement following the visit of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Tin to Bangladesh as Special Envoy of the State Counsellor from 11 to 12 January.

During the visit, U Kyaw Tin, accompanied by Myanmar Ambassador to Bangladesh U Myo Myint Than, called on the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her residence in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Prior to the meeting, the Special Envoy and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and Foreign Secretary Mr Md. Shahidul Haque on separate occasions at the Padma State Guest House in Dhaka.

During the meetings, the two sides cordially discussed issues of mutual interest and expressed the common desire to deepen bilateral relations and cooperation between Myanmar and Bangladesh and to resume the existing annual bilateral consultation mechanisms aswell as to hold regular meetings between the two border security forces and Army-to-Army talks.

They also stressed the importance of exchanging information with a view to maintaining peace and security along the border and to preventing infiltration of terrorists.

The Bangladesh Prime Minister expressed her desire to strengthen ties with its neighbouring countries and reiterated Bangladesh’s zero tolerance policy against terrorism. She also stressed that Bangladesh will not allow its soil to be used for terrorist acts against its neighbouring countries and sought Myanmar’s cooperation to resolve the border issues through negotiations.

The Special Envoy also presented to the Prime Minister the State Counsellor’s letter expressing her confidence that Myanmar and Bangladesh would be able to address the issues of mutual concern in a spirit of good neighbourliness, trust and mutual understanding between the two countries.

The Investigation Commission on Rakhine State led by Vice President U Myint Swe completed its second field trip to the conflict areas in Maungtaw Township recently to investigate the attacks in October and November.

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar