“They’re Myanmar’s citizens. We’re providing them shelter on humanitarian grounds but they must return to their country,” he said while talking to reporters at Ukhiya after visiting different government projects.

Minister Tajul inaugurated a Mini Piped Water Supply Scheme (MPWSS) at Rohingya camp-4 of Kutupalong during his visit and noted that locals are now upset because of the presence of an excessive number of Rohingyas in the area.

He urged the development partners to play a strong role at the international level to facilitate the repatriation of Rohingyas.

Rohingya Crisis

Bangladesh is currently hosting more than 1.1 million Rohingyas in camps in Cox’s Bazar district. Most of them fled to Bangladesh since late August 2017 when the Myanmar army and their local collaborators launched a brutal offensive targeting them.

Rohingyas and rights groups accused Myanmar of murder, rape, arson, torture and loot while the UN has described it as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing and possible genocide. Myanmar denies the charges.

Also read: Rohingyas to ‘get justice’ as ICC launces probe into crimes

Rohingyas have been denied citizenship by Myanmar despite having lived in the country for generations. State-sponsored discrimination against the mainly-Muslim ethnic minority stretches back decades while many are forced to live in squalid camps in apartheid-like condition.

In a sweeping legal victory for the Rohingyas, the United Nations' top court - International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Myanmar to take all measures in its power to prevent genocide against the Rohingya people.

Also read: Dhaka seeks European Parliament's role to help Rohingya repatriation

The court's president, Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, said the International Court of Justice is of the opinion that the Rohingya in Myanmar remain extremely vulnerable.