Bangladesh PM says expects no help from Trump on refugees fleeing Myanmar

BangladeshPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she spoke to U.S. President DonaldTrumpon Monday about Rohingya Muslims flooding into her countryfromMyanmar, but sheexpectsnohelpfromhim as he has made clear how he feels aboutrefugees.

AsTrumpleft an event he hosted at the United Nations on reforming the world body, Hasina said she stopped him for a few minutes.

"He just asked how isBangladesh? I said 'it's doing very well, but the only problem that we have is therefugeesfromMyanmar'," Hasina told Reuters in an interview. "But he didn't make any comment aboutrefugees."

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AMyanmarmilitary response to insurgent attacks last month in the country's Rakhine state sent more than 410,000 Rohingya Muslimsfleeingto neighboringBangladesh, escaping what the United Nations has branded as ethnic cleansing.

TheMyanmargovernmentsaysabout 400 people have been killed in the fighting.

Hasina, who is due to address the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, saidTrump's stance onrefugeeswas clear, so it was not worth asking him forhelpwith the Rohingya Muslimrefugees.

"Already America declared that they will not allow anyrefugees," she said. "What I can expectfromthem, and especially (the) president. He already declared his mind ... so why I should ask?"

"Bangladeshis not a rich country ... but if we can feed 160 million people, another 500 or 700,000 people, we can do it."

A senior White House official was unaware of the exchange but saidTrumpwas deeply interested in the subject and that "he would definitely engage if it were brought up."

Shortly after taking office in January,Trumptried to put a 120-day halt on the U.S. refugee program, bar Syrianrefugeesindefinitely and impose a 90-day suspension on peoplefromsix predominantly Muslim countries.

"The travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific-but stupidly, that would not be politically correct!"Trumpsaid on Twitter on Friday.

Trumpsaysthe move is needed to prevent terrorist attacks and allow the government to put in place more stringent vetting procedures. There is a key Supreme Court hearing next month on the constitutionality of his executive order on the ban.

About a million Rohingya lived in Rakhine State until the recent violence. Most face travel restrictions and are denied citizenship in a country where many Buddhists regard them as illegal immigrantsfromBangladesh.

Hasina said she wanted to see more international political pressure onMyanmarto allow the Rohingya to return.

"(Myanmarleader Aung San Suu Kyi) should agree that these people belong to her country and thatMyanmaris their country. They should take them back," she said. "These people are suffering."

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi has faced a barrage of international criticism for not stopping the violence.Myanmarnational security adviser Thaung Tun told Reuters on Monday thatMyanmarwould ensure those who left their homes could return, but there was "a process we have to discuss."

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley urged theMyanmargovernment to end military operations, grant humanitarian access, and commit to aiding the safe return of civilians to their homes.

"People are still at risk of being attacked or killed, humanitarian aid is not reaching the people who need it, and innocent civilians are stillfleeingacross the border toBangladesh," Haley said after Britain hosted a meeting on the crisis in New York on Monday.

A U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state, Patrick Murphy, is due inMyanmarthis week.