World Bank to support B'desh to manage Rohingya crisis

Dhaka [Bangladesh]: The World Bank has assured support to the Bangladesh government in managing the Rohingya crisis.

This statement was made by the World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim during a meeting with Finance Minister AMA Muhith at the Secretariat in Dhaka on Sunday.

Jim praised Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her leadership quality.

"This year, we gave a lending to Bangladesh of over US$3 billion, which is the second largest among the countries in the world where we finance. It is also a very clear indication of the faith that we have in the direction that the government and country is heading," The Dhaka Tribune quoted the World Bank president as saying.

"We [the UN secretary general and Kim] are here to express our gratitude to the people of Bangladesh and government for receiving so many refugees in a manner that has been peaceful and humane," he said.

He also said they will be visiting the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar as they are extremely concerned about the situation of the Rohingyas.

Rohingyas are a Muslim minority ethnic group in Myanmar and are considered as illegal immigrants.

More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees are languishing in crowded and flood-prone Bangladeshi refugee camps. They fled a brutal Myanmar military campaign launched in August last year.