CA seeks Sasakawa's support to resolve Rohingya crisis

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday sought support from Nippon Foundation Chief Yohei Sasakawa, a highly respected figure in Myanmar, to resolve the Rohingya crisis and ensure the safe repatriation of the displaced people of Rakhine.

He sought the cooperation as Yohei Sasakawa hosted a dinner in honour of the visiting Bangladesh chief adviser at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, said Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder.

He said the two leaders discussed the Rohingya crisis, the evolving situation in Myanmar and the sharp decline of grants and aid to humanitarian crises across the globe in recent months.

Azad said the chief adviser said that every year, some 35,000 babies are born in the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh, and they are growing up without any hope.

"Help us before it becomes explosive and dangerous for us," he said, adding that the increasing smuggling of drugs has also worsened the security situation in the camps.

“We need to bring an end to the Rohingya crisis. This is a good moment. We can work together," he said, quoting the chief adviser.

Azad said Prof Yunus praised the efforts of Yohei Sasakawa in fostering peace and brokering ceasefires in the violence-plagued Myanmar, where the military has been engaged in fighting with regional rebel groups.

The CA’s deputy press secretary said: “As the head of the Nippon Foundation and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Yohei Sasakawa visited Myanmar more than 150 times and is hugely respected by the Myanmar government and the country's more than 100 ethnic groups.”

He said Prof Yunus sought Sasakawa's support to resolve the Rohingya crisis and help return some 1.2 million Rohingya refugees who live in Bangladesh back to their home.

"We know you enjoy deep-rooted admiration from all sides in Myanmar," Prof Yunus said.

Azad said the chief adviser also sought support from the Nippon Foundation for the life-saving healthcare research work of the ICDDR'B, which has been hit hard by the suspension of aid by the USAID.

He said the chief adviser invited Sasakawa to visit Bangladesh.

Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain, Special Envoy of the Chief Adviser Lutfey Siddiqi, and SDGs Affairs Principal Coordinator Lamiya Murshed also joined the dinner.

After the dinner, the chief adviser also engaged in interactions with Japanese high dignitaries and leaders of the Bangladeshi community living in Japan.