Handout                                                                                                                      Number: 1844

China will help facilitate return of

the displaced Myanmar nationals from Bangladesh

Dhaka, 29 June: (Received from Beijing)

            China will help facilitate return of the displaced Myanmar nationals from Bangladesh. The assurance came during the bilateral talks between Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held at Beijing today. During the meeting, Mr. Ali briefed the Chinese side on the status of the 1.1 million forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals, the Rohingyas, who have taken temporary shelter in Bangladesh.

            “The displaced Rohingyas are so traumatized that they want solid security guarantee for their return. They want to return to their original villages and not to any camps; they must be accorded opportunities to earn their livelihood,” Mr. Ali emphasized.  He sought China’s active support in expediting the process of early repatriation of these displaced people by encouraging Myanmar in creating a conducive environment in the Rakhine state for return and resettlement of the forcibly displaced people. Chinese Foreign Minister committed full support of China in realizing early repatriation of the displaced people to Rakhine State of Myanmar and improve the resettlement environment in the Rakhine State by helping in building houses and creating economic opportunities.

            The two sides reviewed the progress made in implementation of decisions of Joint Statement issued during the historic visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Bangladesh in 2016. They also discussed the progress achieved in implementation of the different projects that were signed during the Chinese President's visit. The Foreign Minister sought support of his counterpart in early finalization and speedy implementation of these projects. Other areas of cooperation like trade, investment, education, consular and cultural cooperation were also discussed in details. Both sides emphasized on the need for continued dialogue between the two countries through high-level interactions as well as people-to-people contacts and agreed to work together closely for the common development of the region.

            Earlier on the same day Mahmood Ali called on the Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan. He briefed the Vice-President about the milestone achievements of Bangladesh under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, especially in socio-economic areas. Wang Qishan evinced keen interest in various development programmes in Bangladesh and assured China’s continued support to further consolidate and deepen our bilateral cooperation. He said as the people of Bangladesh is in the right course of transforming their country into Golden Bengal with hard work and determination  as was  dreamt by their Father of the Nation, China is pursuing steadfastly their dream of rejuvenation of the country as articulated by President Xi Jinping. Wang Qishan commented ''China rejoices at the graduation of Bangladesh from LDC status to a developing country''.

            Bangladesh Ambassador to China M. Fazlul Karim was present among others during these meetings.

            Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali is visiting Beijing from 28-30 June 2018 at the invitation of the State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi.

            The bilateral meeting was followed by a Joint Press Briefing and a lunch hosted by the State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China in honour of Bangladesh Foreign Minister.

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Tohidul/Mahmud/Mosharaf/Abbas/2018/1718 Hours