Boris Johnson demands 'safe, dignified return' for Rohingya ahead of meeting Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi

‘They do want to go back – but they don’t feel safe,’ Foreign Secretary says on visit to refugee camp in Bangladesh

Boris Johnson has demanded a “safe, dignified return” for Rohingya refugees trapped in Bangladesh, ahead of meeting with Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Visiting a border refugee camp, the Foreign Secretary said such a return would only be possible if a “political solution” could be found to make safe a return to the Rakhine state.

“That is what they want. They do want to go back – but they don’t feel safe,” Mr Johnson said.

He insisted the refugees were receiving “huge support from the UK” – about £59m – but added: “It’s not just a question of humanitarian aid.

“It’s about finding a political solution, finding an answer in Myanmar, from Burma, creating the conditions for a safe, dignified return for these people.”

The Foreign Secretary’s trip to Bangladesh – the first such official visit in a decade – comes after nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled a military crackdown which began last August.

The United Nations has described the exodus from Rakhine state, and the military offensive which provoked it, as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

Neighbouring Bangladesh has agreed a timeframe with Myanmar for repatriating Rohingya people, at a rate of 1,500 each week.

But aid agencies have joined the refugees themselves in expressing fears about conditions and their rights and safety upon their return.

The Burma Human Rights Network, while praising Mr Johnson’s visit to see the “desperate situation”, said a return was unthinkable without “accountability” for Myanmar’s oppression.

“It is not a good idea for them to return to Burma in these conditions,” Kyaw Win, the organisation’s executive director, told Sky News.

“The root cause of the problem is Burma side – because Burma has committed genocide on the Rohingya people.

“When a country is committing genocide, we cannot look for a political solution. We need to have accountability for this to ensure this kid of condition is not repeated again.”

Earlier, Mr Johnson met Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali, to discuss how to resolve the crisis.

“I was really struck by how Bangladesh and the UK really share a common analysis of what needs to be done. We need to make those points together to the government in Naypyidaw,” he said.

“The government of Bangladesh has shown immense compassion and speed and mercy in dealing with a challenge that I think any government would have found very daunting indeed.”

Mr Johnson was also due to meet the chairman of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, Surakiart Sathirathai. It is looking at the problems in Rakhine state.

The Foreign Secretary will go on to Bangkok, Thailand, for talks with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.