U.S. will stand by Bangladesh on Rohingya issue: US State Department

The United States has promised all kinds of assistance from the side of Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue. The US State Department has given this promise in a letter.

Last Thursday, the US State Department's regular briefing in Washington asked for the US position on the conflict between the junta forces and rebel groups in Myanmar and the asylum of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya in Bangladesh.

About a week later, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller responded in writing.

Miller said, the United States will stand by Bangladesh, which has sheltered millions of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. It is also said that all kinds of assistance will be given to the Rohingya issue as in the past.

He also said that the US also believes that the military coup in Myanmar is causing regional security and stability in addition to the humanitarian crisis. The country called upon the international community to come forward to stop the repression of civilians.

Currently, The conflict between Myanmar's junta and the Arakan Army, a rebel group, has reached Bangladesh as well. In the meantime, a Bangladeshi citizen has lost his life in a shell fired from Myanmar.

The townships bordering Myanmar in Bangladesh spend their days in fear due to the clash and the sound of intense gunfire coming from the other side. Unable to survive the ongoing conflict with the Arakan Army, more than two hundred members of Myanmar's border guard police have come to Bangladesh and taken shelter.

Nine member states of the UN Security Council have condemned the junta's "indiscriminate" airstrikes on civilians in Myanmar. They called on the country's military to stop the attack, on Monday (January 6).

Since 1970, Rohingya refugees started living as refugees in Bangladesh. Most recently in 2017, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an alliance of Rohingya rebels, clashed with the Myanmar army. But Arsa was defeated in just one day after a surprise attack on a Myanmar army post.

As a result, more than 800,000 Rohingya were forced to flee to Bangladesh to save their lives. There are currently more than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.