Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accused neighboring Myanmar of citing new excuses to delay the repatriation of more than 700,000 Rohingyas who were forced into Bangladesh over the past year. 

The premier made the remarks in an interview with international news agency Reuters late Tuesday (Sep 25).

Sheikh Hasina gave the interview to Reuters in New York, where she is attending the annual United Nations meeting of world leaders.

She also said that under no circumstance would the refugees remain permanently in her already crowded country.

“I already have 160 million people in my country. I can’t take any other burden. I can’t take it. My country cannot bear,” Sheikh Hasina said.

The prime minister, who faces a national election in December, said she does not want to pick a fight with Myanmar over the refugees.

But she suggested patience is growing thin with Myanmar’s leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, and its military that she said wields the “main power” there.

Hasina has previously called on the international community to pressure Myanmar to implement the deal.

Rohingyas started to flee into Bangladesh after a bloody military campaign against the Muslim minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in August last year. 

The two countries reached a deal in November to begin repatriation within two months, but it has not started yet.

BDST: 2142 HRS, SEP 26, 2018
AP