B'desh, Myanmar agree to halt the outflow of Rohingyas
24 Oct 2017 10:09 PM IST
Naypyitaw: Government officials from Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to halt the outflow of Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh and enable the refugees to return home.
The two sides met on Tuesday in Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw, to discuss a crisis that has seen hundreds of thousands of Rohingya flee to Bangladesh to escape violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
The sides said in a joint statement that "Myanmar affirms its commitment to immediately halt the outflow of Myanmar residents to Bangladesh, to restore normalcy in Rakhine to enable displaced Myanmar residents to return from Bangladesh at the earliest" possible time.
More than 600,000 Rohingya from northern Rakhine have fled to Bangladesh since August 25, when Myanmar security forces began a scorched-earth campaign against Rohingya villages.
Meanwhile, the US State Department has already withdrawn US aid to Myanmar military units in Rakhine, suspended visa exemptions of top generals and former members and withdrew invitations to Army commanders to participate in activities in Washington. Earlier in 2017 and weeks before he left office, former US President Barack Obama had lifted government sanctions against Myanmar.
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