Rohingya repatriation to start next year, hopes Chinese ambassador

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming on Thursday said China hopes that the repatriation of displaced Rohingya people will start next year.

The outgoing Chinese Ambassador expressed the expectation when he paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the latter's official residence Ganabhaban this morning.

PM's Deputy Press Secretary KM Shakhawat Moon briefed reporters after the meeting.

"They (China) expressed hope that that the return of Rohingyas to their own country would start within the next year," he said.

In this regard, the premier said Bangladesh has been giving shelter to the forcibly displaced Rohingya people on humanitarian grounds. But they are now a burden on Bangladesh for various reasons including food security, she said.

Noting that the displaced people are the nationals of Myanmar, Sheikh Hasina said, "Now they should go back to their own country."

She hoped that Myanmar would take them the displaced people back to their country.