A visiting minister has told Bangladesh's president that Burma is ready to take back Rohingya Muslims who fled violence there, an official has said.

Presidential spokesman Joynal Abedin said on Friday that Burma's Home Minister, Kyaw Swe, told President Abdul Hamid in Dhaka that Burma was ready to take back Rohingya under a deal signed by the countries late last year.

Mr Abedin also quoted the minister as saying that Burma will implement the recommendations by a commission led by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.

Kyaw Swe is scheduled to meet his Bangladeshi counterpart on Friday to discuss the issue further.

Some 700,000 Rohingya refugees have arrived in Bangladesh since late August when Burma's military launched a security crackdown that has been widely criticised as amounting to ethnic cleansing.

 

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