Foreign State Minister seeks Japan’s cooperation for permanent solution to Rohingya crisis

Humayun Kabir, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, has called for continued cooperation from Japan for a permanent solution to the crisis through the safe, voluntary, sustainable and dignified repatriation of Rohingyas to Rakhine State of Myanmar. He said Bangladesh is committed to working in a coordinated manner with the international community to address this long-standing humanitarian and regional crisis.

He made the remarks when Yohei Sasakawa, honorary chairman of Japan’s Nippon Foundation, paid a courtesy call on him at the office of the State Minister for Foreign Affairs in Dhaka on Sunday (September 6). At the meeting he praised the humanitarian assistance of Japan and the Nippon Foundation for the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals who have taken shelter in Bangladesh.

Humayun Kabir said international cooperation is needed to create an environment for the safe and dignified return of Rohingyas to their own land. Such a situation must be ensured in Rakhine State so that there is no fear of the Rohingyas being displaced again after repatriation.

At the meeting Yohei Sasakawa highlighted the long-standing relationship between Bangladesh and the Nippon Foundation. He said cooperation has been continuing for more than five decades on the basis of friendship and mutual trust. This cooperation began through emergency relief assistance for displaced people during Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971.

Sasakawa said since then the Nippon Foundation has been cooperating in various initiatives in the development, healthcare and education sectors of Bangladesh. In recent years the organisation has also given special importance to addressing the humanitarian crisis of the Rohingyas forcibly displaced from Myanmar.

At that time the chairman of the Nippon Foundation also expressed interest in working to assist leprosy patients in Bangladesh. He said they have been working with the World Health Organization, governments of different countries, international organisations and NGOs for more than four decades to eradicate leprosy. The Nippon Foundation is interested in expanding this activity in Bangladesh as well.