Japan provides $2M in support for Rohingyas in Bhasan Char

The government of Japan has decided to extend an emergency aid grant of $2M for the support of  the displaced "Rohingya" in Bhasan Char.

This contribution provides $1 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and $1 million to the World Food Programme (WFP), according to a press release issued by the Japanese embassy on Friday.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has requested Malaysia to continue support for Rohingya repatriation.

The financial assistance allows implementing humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya, who are in need of urgent assistance in Bhasan Char in matters like food and health.

"Resolving the 'Rohingya' crisis is of utmost importance for the peace and stability in the region. Japan supports the steady and smooth operations of international organisations under the MoU signed between the Bangladesh Government and the United Nations in October 2021, which is a basic framework of assistance for Bhasan Char," said ITO Naoki, Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh.

"Japan expects the UN will respond to prevailing and increasing humanitarian and protection needs on the island, and this assistance will contribute to better service delivery and improve living conditions of people living on Bhasan Char," he added. 

He appreciated the Bangladesh government's efforts to protect the Rohingya people and the dedicated work of international organisations.

Japan will continue to stand by Bangladesh and work towards the early repatriation of the displaced Rohingya to Myanmar, as finding durable solutions to this crisis is significant not only to Bangladesh but also to the stability of the entire region.

On a phone call with his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah on Thursday, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen requested Malaysia to continue support for the repatriation of displaced Rohingyas to Myanmar.

Lauding Bangladesh's role in sheltering Rohingyas, Saifuddin said the whole world was grateful to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her enormous humanitarian gesture in hosting more than 1.1 million displaced people from Myanmar.

Saifuddin stressed the importance of expanding cooperation in the arena of the digital economy by forging closer cooperation between the ICT authorities of the two countries.

Both foreign ministers stressed the importance of accelerating the process for the early conclusion of the proposed Free Trade Agreement to facilitate more trade and commerce between the two countries.

Regarding the MoU signed on the recruitment of workers from Bangladesh, Momen appreciated the Malaysian government's decision to open up recruitment opportunities for Bangladeshi workers in all sectors of the economy.

He expressed Bangladesh's willingness to contribute to Malaysia's economic growth and activities by sending more workers across safe and regular migration channels. In this connection, he requested the Malaysian Foreign Minister to consider recruiting trained IT manpower from Bangladesh.

Momen sought Malaysian support for Bangladesh's candidacy in various international and global fora, including the Asean Sectoral Dialogue Partnership.

They both also agreed to work on exchanging more high level visits to infuse bilateral relations with further dynamism and in new ways.