Bangladesh to be helped by Cambodia on Rohingya issue using Asean mechanism
Cambodia will play a role to help find a suitable solution for repatriating the refugees back to Myanmar
Cambodian Foreign Affairs Minister Prak Sokhonn said on Wednesday that Bangladesh will get help from Cambodia to resolve Rohingya refugee issue with Myanmar using Asean mechanism.
During a meeting with Muhammad Faruk Khan, chairman of Bangladesh's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr Sokhonn made the commitment, reports KHMER Times.
Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said after the meeting that Mr Faruk Khan had requested Cambodia's help to push Myanmar to repatriate the Rohingya, 1.1 million of whom have sought refuge in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar after fleeing violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
"He [Mr Faruk Khan] said he hopes Cambodia will play a role to help find a suitable solution for repatriating the refugees back to Myanmar," Mr Kuong noted.
He said that in response, Mr Sokhonn said that the Kingdom would try to help Bangladesh find a solution within the Asean framework, because both Cambodia and Myanmar are members of the regional bloc.
"Cambodia hopes that Bangladesh and Myanmar will find a suitable solution to the Rohingya issue," Mr Kuong quoted the minister as saying.
He said Mr Sokhonn and Mr Faruk Khan also discussed enhancing bilateral trade between the two countries including in the tourism and agriculture sectors.
"Bilateral trade between the two countries remains very small," Mr Kuong said. "It was about $7 million in 2018 but increased to about $9 million during the first six months of last year."
