Myanmar, Bangladesh, and China hold informal meeting over repatriation

25 September 2019
Myanmar, Bangladesh, and China hold informal meeting over repatriation
ICRC President Peter Maurer meets with H.E. Kyaw Tint Swe, Union Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor. Important discussion on humanitarian challenges in Rakhine. Photo: Peter Maurer/Twitter

Representatives from Myanmar, Bangladesh, and China called this week for enhanced cooperation in repatriating Rohingya refugees now living in camps in Bangladesh back to their homes in Myanmar, saying political will is needed now to move the issue forward, RFA reported.

Meeting informally on the sidelines of U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen, and Myanmar Minister of the State Counselor’s Office Kyaw Tint Swe also called for the creation of a trilateral working group “mechanism” to oversee repatriation efforts.

Strong political will and improvements in the economic conditions of Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state to promote regional stability are needed now for real progress to be made, said parties to the meeting.