Desk Report
Published: 18 Jan 2022, 10:11 pm
Rohingya Camps in Cox's Bazar || Photo: Collected
Cambodia
has assured Bangladesh of his best efforts in bringing a sustainable solution
to the Rohingya problem as ASEAN chair.
The
assurance was made during a telephonic conversation between foreign minister Dr
AK Abdul Momen and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign
Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn today, a foreign ministry
press release said.
Lauding
the 'big heart' demonstrated by Bangladesh in sheltering 1.1 million displaced
Myanmar people, Sokhonn expressed his full understanding of and sympathy for
the difficulties being faced by Bangladesh.
Dr
Momen congratulated his Cambodian counterpart on Cambodia's assumption of ASEAN
Chairmanship and on the latter's appointment as the Special Envoy of the ASEAN
Chair to Myanmar.
Bangladesh
foreign minister observed that Cambodian Chairmanship of ASEAN provided a great
opportunity for them to facilitate the safe and dignified return of the
forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals, currently being sheltered in Bangladesh
on humanitarian grounds, expeditiously to Myanmar.
He
mentioned about the potential security risks to Bangladesh, Myanmar and to the
greater region if the crisis is left festering for a much longer period of time
due to the vulnerability of the displaced people to radicalism, extremism,
terrorism and cross-border crimes.
Both
the Ministers highly appreciated the praiseworthy steps taken by the Prime
Ministers of Bangladesh and Cambodia for mutual naming of a prominent street in
the capitals Dhaka and Phnom Penh, which took the bilateral relations between
the two countries to new heights.
On
Bangladesh Foreign Minister's request for Cambodia's support in expediting
Bangladesh's bid for ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partnership status, the Cambodian
Foreign Minister expressed his endorsement and assured of necessary
coordination with the ASEAN Secretariat in this regard.