Dhaka: Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Thursday said the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar who intruded into Bangladesh through several border points will be sent back to their country at a convenient time.

The minister came up with the remark while talking to reporters after attending a certificate giving ceremony for Urban Community Volunteer Programme jointly arranged by Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense (FSCD) and Save The Children in the city’s Mirpur area. 

The government is providing humanitarian assistance to the Rohingyas who have already entered the country crossing the border illegally, Asaduzzaman added. 

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Coast Guard are patrolling round the clock to check the influx of Rohingyas but a number of Rohingya have already entered our territory through the porous Bangladeesh-Myanmar border, he said. 

Thousands of Rohingya people, a Muslim minority of Rakhine state of Myanmar, have been fleeing their country amid persecution by Myanmar military and trying to enter the Bangladesh illegally through several border points, including the Naf River.

Earlier addressing the function, the Home Minister said the government has taken an initiative to create 62,000 trained volunteers so that they can help rescue operation if there is any disaster in the country. Among them, 34,000 people have been given voluntary training, he said.

He also called upon all to come forward to take volunteer training. “Let’s come to take voluntary training and also encourage others for getting training,” he added. 

The Home Minister said donor agencies like ‘Save the Children’ have already given assistance for volunteer training and hope that they will continue their support in this regard to increase the number of volunteers.

Addressing the function, Mark Pierce, country director of Save The Children, said the Urban Community Volunteer programme helps to educate and prepare the most vulnerable and train volunteers to play a vital role to help ensure that proper precautions are taken and that the correct instructions are followed during a potential disaster.

Among others, Disaster Management and Relief Ministry’s secretary Md Shah Kamal and director general of FSCD Brig. General Ali Ahmed Khan addressed the function.