Skip to main content

Conditions for Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazaar ‘grim’

Rohingya refugees' living conditions in Bangladesh are “grim” and the best solution would be eventual repatriation to Burma, according to a US delegation tasked with assessing conditions in the areas.
A Rohingya child lives in harsh conditions at the Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp, Teknaf, Cox’s bazar. Photo: Mizzima
A Rohingya child lives in harsh conditions at the Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp, 
Teknaf, Cox’s bazar. Photo: Mizzima
Speaking for the first time after being given rare access to Rakhine State and Rohingya refugee centers in Bangladesh, US delegation leaders said a long-term solution to the the Rohingyas' plight is for the tens of thousands of refugees living in Bangladesh to eventually return to Burma.
“I look forward to the day when the situation in Burma is such that the refugees voluntarily, freely, safely, will want to go home,” said US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena, according to a press conference transcript provided to Radio Free Asia (RFA) by the US State Department.

The press conference was held last week in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka.

The mission was aimed at determining the conditions in Rakhine State violence between Muslim Rohingyas and Buddhist Rakhines left more than 80 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.

 “The extreme emotions that drove some of the events earlier this year are still very much in place,” said Kelly Clements, a deputy sssistant secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

 “Certainly some of the deprivations that have caused people to feel insecure will need to be addressed,” said Dan Baer, the deputy assistant secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

Tensions between the Rakhine and Rohingya groups are still “very real and threatening,” Mozena said.

He said dialogue between Bangladesh and Burma on the Rohingya situtation was encouraging but further talks were needed to resolve the “very difficult situation.”

“It is most, most and most encouraging to see the development of dialogue between Bangladesh and Burma,” he said.

Thein Sein was scheduled to visit Bangladesh in July, following a visit to Burma by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in December, but he cancelled his trip after the violence erupted in Rakhine.

Clements said the long-term priority in the region should be reconciliation and the reintegration of Rohingya and Rakhine communities.

“The Burmese government is well aware that there are some deep-seated issues that need to be addressed between the communities in order for there to be a long-term solution,” Clements said.

Bangladesh must continue to keep its borders open to the refugees, Mozena said, stressing the urgent need for food and healthcare for the Rohingyas there.

Some 300,000 Rohingyas live in Bangladesh, which in August told aid groups to stop providing assistance in the camps because it encouraged more Rohingyas to come.  Bangladesh recognizes only about 29,000 of the Rohingyas in its borders as refugees.

The US will support resettlement to a third country for some “extremely vulnerable” individuals in the camps, Clements said.

Source here

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rohingya MP U Shwe Maung undergoes questioning

Rohingya MP U Shwe Maung By Kayleigh Long Myanmar Times February 07, 2014 Union Solidarity and Development Party MP U Shwe Maung has been questioned by police in Nay Pyi Taw over comments he made to Democratic Voice of Burma about possible police involvement in a fire that broke out in a Muslim village in Rakhine State late last month. More than a dozen homes were destroyed in the blaze at Du Chee Yar Tan West village near Maungdaw in northern Rakhine State on January 28. U Shwe Maung said the February 4 interrogation came at the behest of President U Thein Sein, who sent a letter to Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann requesting permission for police question the MP. The interview lasted about 90 minutes and was conducted at his USDP living quarters in Nay Pyi Taw. It focused on allegations that U Shwe Maung, a Rohingya, had defamed the state and police by saying that residents believed security forces were involved in starting the fire. ...

ERC representatives and Dr.Maung Zarni partook a seminar in Sweden

ERC Delegation Meet Dr. Zarni Mohamed Farooq ( Mayu Press) May 7, 2013 The Stockholm University of Sweden held a seminar on “Forum for Asian Studies” at William Olsson Hall, the department of geological science on 3rd May 2013. It depicts Rohingya tragedy and Human Right Eradication in western Burma. Burma (Myanmar) is a nation with ambition to make their name and discharge their White Man’s Burden, one of the world’s hottest assignments in the world of diplomats, development consultants, NGO experts and academic researchers, a lucrative ‘frontier’ market for investors, venture capitalists and multinationals, a must-go for both citizen-tourists and global luminaries. This lecture will critically discuss the rose-tinted view of reforms in Burma against the troubling realties as lived by the people of that country, including full-scale Rohingya genocide of 40 years, the 60-years of Burmese army’s un-ending internal colonial wars against the Christian Kachins, the Kare...

রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের কোনো ভবিষ্যৎ নেই

বাংলাদেশের আশ্রয়শিবিরে বসবাসকারী রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের কোনোই ভবিষ্যৎ নেই বলে মন্তব্য করেছেন রোহিঙ্গা বিষয়ক আইনজীবী রাজিয়া সুলতানা। তিনি এই আশ্রয়শিবিরকে চিড়িয়াখানার সঙ্গে তুলনা করেছেন এবং রোহিঙ্গাদের ফেরত পাঠানোর জন্য একটি উপযুক্ত কৌশল নির্ধারণের আহ্বান জানিয়েছেন। কয়েকদিন আগে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রণালয়ের ইন্টারন্যাশনাল ওমেন অব কারেজ এওয়ার্ড (আইডব্লিউসিএ) পুরস্কার পান রাজিয়া সুলতানা। সাহসিকতা দেখানোর জন্য সারা বিশ্ব থেকে বাছাই করা ১০ জন নারীকে এ পুরস্কার দেয়া হয়।  রাজিয়া সুলতানার একটি সাক্ষাৎকার নিয়েছে বার্তা সংস্থা রয়টার্স। তাতে তিনি রোহিঙ্গাদের পরিণতি নিয়ে হতাশা প্রকাশ করেন। রাজিয়া সুলতানা বলেন, মিয়ানমারের মুসলিম সংখ্যালঘু সম্প্রদায়ের রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের মধ্যে আশার অভাব রয়েছে। ২০১৭ সালের আগস্টে মিয়ানমারের সেনাবাহিনীর নৃশংস নির্যাতনের ফলে তারা পালিয়ে এসে বাংলাদেশে আশ্রয় নিতে বাধ্য হয়। রাজিয়া সুলতানা বলেন, এই আশ্রয় শিবিরে যত বেশি সময় শরণার্থীরা থাকবেন ততই পরিস্থিতির অবনতি ঘটতে থাকবে। ওই সাক্ষাৎকারে তিনি আরো বলেন, হ্যাঁ, এ কথা সত্য যে, শরণার্থীরা খাবার পাচ্ছে। কিন...