70th Chin National Day celebrated in Naypyitaw

The 13th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting concludes at MICC-I Padamya Hall in Nay Pyi Taw on 21 November 2017. Photo: MNA

State Counsellor and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday that she hopes talks with Bangladesh this week will result in a memorandum of understanding on the voluntary return of Muslims who fled to Bangladesh over the past three months.Her remarks came during the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM), which concluded yesterday morning at MICC-1 Padamya Hall in Nay Pyi Taw.“We can’t say whether it has happened or not. As a responsibility of the government, we have to make sure that it won’t happen,” Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told reporters yesterday in response to a question about human rights violations at the end of a meeting of senior officials at ASEM in Myanmar’s capital.

Turning to the question of repatriation of the Muslims in northern Rakhine, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said discussions would be held with the Bangladesh foreign minister tomorrow and Thursday. Officials from both countries began discussions last month on how to process applications by northern Rakhine Muslims who fled to Bangladesh and want to return to Myanmar.

“We hope that this would result in an MOU signed quickly, which would enable us to start the safe and voluntarily return of all of those who have gone across the border,” Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said Myanmar would follow the framework of an agreement reached in the 1990s to cover the earlier repatriation of the Muslim community.

“It’s on the basis of residency…this was agreed by the two governments long time ago with success, so this will be formula we will continue to follow,” she said.

The State Counsellor and foreign affairs minister said the country was doing everything it could to “make sure security is maintained” in Rakhine, but warned that “it takes time” to resolve the issues there.To conclude the meeting, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, European Union special representative Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia H.E. Mr. Sven Mikser and Spain’s Secretary of State H.E. Mr. Ildefonso Castro delivered messages of unity and gratitude. Spain is hosting the 14th ASEM FMM meeting.

Myanmar News Agency and Reuters