Dhaka tells foreign diplomats 3000 Rohingyas killed in Rakhine; Bangladesh allots 2,000 acre land for Rohingyas

By: Siam Sarower Jamil
Dhaka, Sept. 10: Bangladesh government will rehabilitate Rohingyas over a 2,000 acre land in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhia upazila, Asaduzzaman Khan, Home minister of Bangladesh said Sunday. The current piece of land is in Kutupalang area of Ukhia, the area of Cox’s Bazar district bordering Myanmar. He assured of allotting more land if necessary. “We will allocate more land in the area if necessary,” Minister Asaduzzaman said while talking to reporters at his secretariat office in Dhaka in the afternoon. The exodus of Rohingyas is nearing 300,000 according to estimates of the United Nations. The UN has already appealed for USD 77 million emergency funds for Rohingya support. Worldwide, rights groups are pushing Myanmar to cease violence in the Rakhine state. Bangladesh has repeatedly urged the Myanmar government to take back the Rohingyas. Apart from providing shelter and support, Bangladesh is also taking precautionary security measures to prevent refugee crimes including biometric registration. Biometrically unregistered Rohingyas will not be allowed any support or board any transport within Bangladesh’s territory, Minister Asaduzzaman said in the issue of registration. Meanwhile, Bangladesh foreign minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on Sunday evening informed foreign diplomats that about 3,000 people have been killed so far in the latest spell of violence against Rohingyas in the Rakhine state of Myanmar. Vatican ambassador to Bangladesh, Archbishop George Kocherry, told journalists that the foreign minister gave this information in the afternoon. The minister briefed the foreign diplomats at Padma state guest house about the latest condition of the Rohingyas who entered Bangladesh from the violencetorn region of Myanmar. He briefed diplomats of Western and Muslim countries separately. US, Australian and Norwegian diplomats told that several countries praised Bangladesh for providing shelter to a huge number of Rohingya people. The participants at the briefing also discussed ways to help Bangladesh face the Rohingya crisis, the diplomats said. The international community has pledged to stand beside Bangladesh to fight the crisis, they added. According to the United Nations, close to 300,000 Rohingyas have crossed into Bangladesh in the last two weeks. The refugee camps, erected for the Rohingyas, are bursting at the seams.