Bangladesh has called on the international community to assist in ensuring the repatriation of the Rohingya by creating a safe zone in Myanmar.
Speaking at a panel event titled “The global compact on refugees” on Monday, Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina recalled her own experience of displacement while offering recommendations which would allow the Rohingya to return home.
“In Bangladesh, we are faced with the largest forced movement of over 1.1 million traumatised Rohingya at the shortest time. They have been forcibly displaced from their homes in Rakhine State of Myanmar where they had been living for centuries,” she said.
“We must not forget that every refugee deserves a safe return to their homeland. The displaced people from Myanmar must be able to return home with dignity, safety and security,” she added.
Ms Hasina said that by accepting the Rohingya into Bangladesh, her country had prevented the crisis from spilling out into the rest of the continent.
Chairing the panel, the UN high commissioner for refugees Federico Grandi thanked Sheikh Hasini for sharing her own experience, which he said was a reminder that the event was “about people and not just about numbers and politics”.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar, fled to Bangladesh after violence erupted with the country’s security forces in August 2017.
Myanmar’s powerful military generals have been accused by the UN of carrying out a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” through their persecution of the Rohingya in Rakhine State.
Ms Hasina said Myanmar must abolish its discriminatory laws against the Rohingya, offer them pathway to citizenship and if needed create a “safe zone” inside the country to protect them.
She also said that Myanmar must accept the recommendations of a Fact-Finding Mission of the UN Human Rights Council last month, which said that military leaders should be held accountable for their crimes in Rakhine.
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The Bangladeshi leader’s comments came just hours after Myanmar’s commander in chief warned against foreign countries interfering in his country’s affairs.
Min Aung Hlaing said in remarks published by on his website on Monday that “talks to meddle in internal affairs” would cause “misunderstanding”.
The comments were the first time Min Aung Hlaing has spoken in public since the UN mission’s report called upon him and five other generals to be prosecuted for atrocities carried out last year, which include allegations of mass killings and gang rapes.
Myanmar denies wrongdoing says its forces carried out a legitimate operation to expel terrorists following attacks by Muslim militants on police and army posts.
The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) announced last week that she was launching a preliminary investigation into the deportations of Rohingya into Bangladesh.
Also at the UN meeting, Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged developed countries to do more to assist with the numbers of refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria.
“Turkey is home to the largest refugee population in the world,” said Mr Cavusoglu, who stepped in at the meeting for President Tayyip Erdogan. “We have provided shelter to anyone needing protection. We have provided education, health, and psychological services to anyone who needs them.”
Mr Cavusoglu added that Turkey and Russia had a prevented a "huge tragedy" by agreeing to create a demilitarised buffer zone in Syria's Idlib province, which would separate government troops from rebel forces.
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
Juvenile arthritis
Along with doctors, families and teachers can help pick up cases of arthritis in children.
Most types of childhood arthritis are known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. JIA causes pain and inflammation in one or more joints for at least six weeks.
Dr Betina Rogalski said "The younger the child the more difficult it into pick up the symptoms. If the child is small, it may just be a bit grumpy or pull its leg a way or not feel like walking,” she said.
According to The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in US, the most common symptoms of juvenile arthritis are joint swelling, pain, and stiffness that doesn’t go away. Usually it affects the knees, hands, and feet, and it’s worse in the morning or after a nap.
Limping in the morning because of a stiff knee, excessive clumsiness, having a high fever and skin rash are other symptoms. Children may also have swelling in lymph nodes in the neck and other parts of the body.
Arthritis in children can cause eye inflammation and growth problems and can cause bones and joints to grow unevenly.
In the UK, about 15,000 children and young people are affected by arthritis.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
