The minister said, about 24,000 registered Rohingya refugees were living in two camps in Cox’s Bazar, while three to four hundred thousand undocumented Rohingyas from neighboring Burma were staying illegally along the coastal belt and other parts of the country, causing serious social problems.

“The Rohingyas are not only causing social problems but also posing a threat to our economy,” he said.

The minister urged the EU delegation to settle the problem by sending the Rohingyas back to their homeland, in Burma.

The EU delegation informed the minister that the European Union was also initiating a 100 million Euro project for the rehabilitation of the Muslim ethnic minority group in their homeland, on their return from Bangladesh.

The EU inquired about the Rohingya refugee situation in Bangladesh and expressed their eagerness to help the agencies working with the refugees who had fled Arakan State, in western Burma, in the face of persecution by the government in the early 1990s.

The delegates also expressed their intent to support the NGOs (non-government organisations) in Cox's Bazar working for the welfare of the refugees, according to the minister.

“The government’s policy was to encourage their repatriation and for that reason it had restricted activities of non-governmental organizations in the Rohingya refugee camp areas.”

“No NGO is allowed to work there without prior approval of the local administration,” he informed the delegates, adding that such restrictions were imposed to discourage the influx of the Rohingyas.

The NGOs now required approval of the local administration before taking up any projects in the area, the minister said in reply to a question, adding that the government was doing its best for the welfare of the registered refugees.

“We are not against the activities of the NGOs. The government has also done many things for Rohingyas on humanitarian grounds but we should not encourage more of them to come to Bangladesh,” the minister said.