DHAKA: Bangladesh is under “no obligation” to shelter 81 Rohingya Muslim refugees adrift for almost two weeks on the Andaman Sea and being assisted by neighbouring India, said Bangladesh foreign minister A. K. Abdul Momen.
India’s coast guard found the 81 survivors and eight dead crammed onto a crippled fishing boat and were trying to arrange for Bangladesh to take them, Indian officials said on Friday.
But Momen said that Bangladesh expects India, the closest country, or Myanmar, the Rohingyas’ country of origin, to accept them.
“They are not Bangladesh nationals and in fact, they are Myanmar nationals. They were found 1,700 km (1,100 miles) away from the Bangladesh maritime territory and therefore, we have no obligation to take them,” said Momen, who is in the United States.
Source: Dawn
More Stories
Bangladesh Push Back Rohingya Trafficked by AA
On November 16, at approximately 8:00 PM, the Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB) intercepted and pushed back 50 Rohingyas trafficked...
Rohingya Fleeing to Bangladesh Apprehended by BGB
On November 11, a heartbreaking scene unfolded at the Alikadam border in Bandarban, Bangladesh, where Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) detained...
Rohingya Trapped by Traffickers in Bangladesh
For the Rohingya refugees who fled unimaginable violence in Myanmar, the refugee camps in Bangladesh were meant to be a...
Rohingya Sent Back to Maungdaw by Bangladesh BGB
On September 24, over 200 Rohingya refugees who fled from Maungdaw Township in Myanmar to Bangladesh were arrested by Bangladeshi...
Bangladesh Sparks New Hopes for the Rohingya
More than a million members of Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority currently live in Cox's Bazar refugee camps, having fled...
Rohingya Death & Missing After Capsized in Naf River
On the night of September 23, a boat carrying approximately twenty Rohingya refugees capsized on the Naf River as they...