Rohingyas engage in drug, women trafficking… as soon as they return it’s good: Sheikh Hasina

New Delhi: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said that the Rohingya migrants are a “big burden” for her country and that Dhaka is reaching out to the international community to ensure they return to their homeland. She also said that Rohingyas engage in drug, women trafficking and as soon as they return, it would be good Dhaka.

“For us, it’s a big burden. India is a vast country and you can accommodate, but in our country there are about 1.1 million Rohingyas. We are consulting with the international community and also our neighbouring countries to take some step in repatriation of Rohingyas.”

The Bangladesh PM said that some of the Rohingyas staying in camps in her country are engaged in drug/women trafficking, arm conflict. “As soon as they return it’s good for Bangladesh and also for Myanmar. We are trying to pursue them, discuss with them,” she added.

She further said that Bangladesh is giving shelter to Rohingyas on humanitarian grounds. “We have be providing everything to them and during the COVID-19 pandemic, we vaccinated all those in Rohingya community. But how long will they stay here?”

The Bangladesh prime minister said that her country had offered shelter to the Rohingya when they were facing many troubles. “But now they should go back to their country. But India as a neighbour country, they can play a big role on it, I feel that,” she said in an interview to news agency ANI.

She even highlighted that the presence of lakhs of Rohingyas in Bangladesh had created challenges for her regime. Hasina said that her government had tried to take care of the displaced community keeping the humanitarian aspect in mind.

The Bangladesh PM will on a State visit to India from 5 to 8 September.

On 17 August, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directed the Delhi government to ensure the "illegal foreigners" remain in detention centres pending their extradition.

The clarification from the home ministry came within hours after Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri put out a tweet saying India has always welcomed those who have sought refuge in the country and announcing that all Rohingya refugees would be shifted to economically weaker section (EWS) flats in east Delhi's Bakkarwala area.

The Home Ministry issued a statement clarifying its position. "Illegal foreigners are to be kept in Detention Centre till their deportation as per law. The Government of Delhi has not declared the present location as a Detention Centre. They have been directed to do the same immediately," a spokesperson said in the statement on Twitter.

"With respect to news reports in certain sections of media regarding Rohingya illegal foreigners, it is clarified that the MHA has not given any directions to provide EWS flats to Rohingya illegal migrants at Bakkarwala in New Delhi," the spokesperson said.

According to MHA's estimate, around 40,000 Rohingya migrants live in different parts of the country, including Delhi.

With inputs from agencies

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