Staff Reporter :
The United States has resettled over 17,000 Rohingya refugees from the region since 2010, including 2,800 so far this fiscal year, according to a spokesperson from the US Embassy in Dhaka. The US continues to consider all Rohingya refugee referrals from the UNHCR as part of its Refugee Admissions Program, told the spokesperson.
“The United States will continue to consider for resettlement all UNHCR referrals of Rohingya refugees in the region to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program,” he told UNB while responding to a question. The Biden administration remains focused on expanding the resettlement of key populations of concern, including Rohingya, he said.
Seven years ago, on 25 August 2017, some 700,000 Rohingya men, women and children were forced to flee Myanmar and seek protection in Bangladesh.
On Sunday, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus underscored the need for expedited third country resettlement of the Rohingya people who have been living in Bangladesh.
The chief adviser made the call after he met officials of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) at his office in Dhaka. The IOM chief of mission in Bangladesh Abdusattor Esoev gave an overview of the resettlement of the Rohingya to developed countries including in the United States.
Washington DC has reaffirmed its commitment to resettle thousands of Rohingyas in the United States, but the process hasn’t been accelerated. The Chief Adviser asked the officials to fast-track the process.
Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Monday said there is still a hope that the United States will take around 2 lakh Rohingyas as part of a third country resettlement plan with 20,000 Rohingyas per year.
“It is a very small number. The number is 2 lakh. We can try that. It is still at a trial stage,” he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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