Myanmar tells Bangladesh it is ready to take back Rohingyas, says official

An official says a visiting Myanmar minister has told Bangladesh’s president that Myanmar is ready to take back Rohingya Muslims who fled violence there.

Bangladesh presidential spokesman Joynal Abedin said on Friday that Myanmar’s home minister Kyaw Swe told Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid in Dhaka that Myanmar was ready to take back Rohingyas under a deal signed by the countries late last year.

Abedin also quoted the minister as saying that Myanmar will implement the recommendations by a commission led by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.

Kyaw Swe is scheduled to meet his Bangladeshi counterpart on Friday to discuss further.

Some 700,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived in Bangladesh since late August when Myanmar’s military launched a security crackdown that has been widely criticised as amounting to ethnic cleansing.