B'desh: Myanmar delegation meets Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar

Cox's Bazar [Bangladesh], July 27 (ANI): A 15-member high-level delegation from Myanmar, led by permanent foreign secretary U Myint Thu, met a group of Rohingyas at a refugee camp here on Saturday.
The delegation will hold negotiations with the Rohingyas for convincing them to return to Rakhine state in Myanmar.
"The main purpose of the visiting team is to talk with Rohingya refugees in order to convince them to return to their home country", Md Delwar Hossain, director-general of South Asian Desk of Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh, told Anadolu News Agency.
He expressed hope that the delegation would give a positive outcome about their repatriation talks with the Rohingyas.
"But we have no schedule for formal talks with the visiting delegation," Hossain stressed, adding that the visit could play a crucial role in convincing the Rohingyas to return to Rakhine state in Myanmar.
Over 1.1 million Rohingyas have been forced to take shelter in Bangladesh's Cox Bazar after Myanmar's armed forces while responding to attacks by an armed group, launched a brutal campaign against the community in Rakhine state in 2017.
In November 2017, Bangladesh and Myanmar had signed a repatriation agreement, but no Rohingya person has returned to the Buddhist-majority country yet, fearing for their safety.
Bangladesh has repeatedly said that it would not force any Rohingya to return to Myanmar under the deal.
Several countries have also urged Dhaka to not force any Rohingya stressing that the repatriation process should be done on a voluntary basis.
On Wednesday, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen hoped that the process would begin by September this year. (ANI)