Muhith criticises Myanmar for pushing Rohingyas to BD

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Saturday came down heavily on Myanmar for pushing a million of Rohingyas into Bangladesh within less than a year putting stress on economy and sought punitive measures against Myanmar.

"This (pushing Rohingyas into Bangladesh) is something unaccountable," he said urging the international community to help repatriate Rohingyas to their homeland from Bangladesh.

The Finance Minister said Bangladesh maintained above 7 percent growth over the last three years but he does not know what would happen next year as Bangladesh needs to provide a great deal of funds to Rohingyas. "And that is not productive investment at all."

Minister Muhith was addressing meeting attended by over 40 speakers from various countries. 

Minister Muhith said Myanmar did it before and in 1992 they pushed some 400000 into Bangladesh and Bangladesh has maintained these people all these years.

Earlier, on the sidelines, the Finance Minister said Bangladesh will seek financial support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the form of grants, not as loans, to help address the Rohingya crisis which has huge burden on Bangladesh.

“We’ll certainly seek the support. The World Bank is giving as grants. We'll tell ADB to do the same,” Minister Muhith told UNB when his attention was drawn.
 
The Finance Minister will discuss the issue with the ADB President Takehiko Nakao during their meeting, scheduled to be held here on Sunday morning.

Minister Muhith said Bangladesh approached every donor during recent conference in Washington including the World Bank.

The World Bank originally offered support both in the form of loans and grants but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was not happy about loans.

“So, World Bank will give in the form of grants and we will also seek support from the ADB in same form – grants,” said the Finance Minister.

Terming global refugee crisis as a "very serious" one, Muhith said the international development bank should come forward to play some roles in this regard.

Bangladesh currently has a Rohingya population, which is far more than Bhutan’s entire population.

Bhutan has around 800,000 people whereas Bangladesh had to give shelter to some 1.2 million Rohingyas.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed the repatriation agreement on November 23, 2017. On January 16, Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a document on 'Physical Arrangement' which will facilitate the return of Rohingyas to their homeland from Bangladesh.

The 'Physical Arrangement' stipulates that the repatriation will be completed preferably within two years from the start of repatriation. 

However, the repatriation on the ground is yet to start.

On May 3, the ADB President said they are aware of very serious impact on Bangladesh economy due to Rohingya influx and also the humanitarian aspect of the refugee crisis. "We’re prepared to support them. We’re waiting for their (Bangladesh -Myanmar) requests.".

Responding to a question on the sidelines, Muhith said Bangladesh will ask the ADB to remove "commitment charge" on loans, mainly on undisbursed amount.

"This demand is not only from me, this is also a demand made by others," he said

In the governors meeting, the Finance Minister said Bangladesh wants to eliminate povert not by 2030 but by 2024.

He laid emphasis on diversification of economy, upgrading infrastructure, accelerating industrial skills, improving productivity and strengthening institutions.

"These are all big challenges. To meet these challenges, we need support from all development partners. We need sustained growth. This momentum must be sustained," Muhith said.

He appreciated ADB’s Country Partnership Strategy for Bangladesh that proposes total assistance of $8 billion, including for non-sovereign operations, during the period of 2016-2020, 60 percent up from $5 billion in 2011-2015.

In 2016-2017, the ADB approved $2.5 billion in sovereign and $600 million in non-sovereign assistance.

To support government efforts, the ADB will provide additional resources depending upon need, performance of ongoing projects, and readiness of new projects.

Bangladesh joined the ADB in 1973, and in 1982 became its first member to host a field office.

To date, more than $20 billion in ADB loans, grants, and technical assistance has been approved for Bangladesh.

The approved non-sovereign loans, equity investments, and guarantees have totaled $985.28 million.

Source: unb