India has constructed 250 houses in Myanmar's Rakhine to help Rohingya Muslims return. India has reportedly spent $25 million for the houses, which were handed over to Myanmar. As a next step, The Indian Express reported, Myanmar's foreign secretary will visit the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh.
ALSO READ
- 17 dead after boat carrying Rohingya refugees breaks up off Myanmar
- 'There is nothing left:' Rohingya refugees desolate as massive fire leaves them shelterless
- Massive fire erupts at Rohingya camp in Bangladesh, probe begins
- What next for the Rohingya refugees?
- MHA denies Puri's claims, says no EWS flats to Rohingya refugees in Delhi
- US to declare Rohingya repression in Myanmar a 'genocide'
According to the UN estimates, nearly 700,000 minority Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh to escape violence in the Rakhine state since August 2017 when the Myanmar army launched a military crackdown
Buddhist-dominated Myanmar does not recognise Rohingya as an ethnic group and insists that they are Bangladeshi migrants living illegally in the country.
"It is not possible for Bangladesh to host such a large number of Rohingyas for long," Ban told newsmen while visiting Rohingyas' makeshift camp along with Marshal Islands President Hilda Heine and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva at southeastern Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar.
The former South Korean diplomat, who subsequently served as the eighth Secretary-General of the UN for two consecutive terms from January 2007 to December 2016, said Rohingyas appeared as a huge "burden" for a country like Bangladesh.
The former UN chief said that Myanmar's role in repatriating Rohingyas was much less than what was expected. "Myanmar government should do much more so that Rohingyas can return to their homeland without fear and persecution," he said.
