Skip to main content

‘Rakhine state needs immediate aid’

After a visit to the troubled Rakhine state of Myanmar recently, a U.S. team has said people there continue to face persecution and displacement.

Kelly Clements, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, who led the team, strongly recommended immediate humanitarian assistance and access to international aid for the affected people. The team was in Myanmar from September 7 to 10 and in Bangladesh from September 11th to 13th to assess the situation and hold talks with officials on how to reduce tensions and improve humanitarian situation. (Many Rohingya refugees fled to
Bangladesh in the wake of June violence.) Two delegates of the four-member U.S. team narrated their findings to media here on Thursday.

They said they identified, after visiting the worst-affected Sittwe and Mongdu areas — both torn by ethnic violence — “immediate humanitarian assistance as the top most priority”.

Ms. Kelly and her colleague Daniel Baer — Deputy Assistant Secretary for U.S. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor — said they talked to local leaders and victims in Arakan state and refugees in two camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar to get first hand account of the situation.

Asked whether they felt that Myanmar had failed to address the ethnic problem, the U.S. officials parried the question but said bringing tensions under control should be given priority. They underscored the need for understanding and reconciliation between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists for a long-term solution.

Ms. Kelly also said the U.S. would continue its support through UNHCR to address the need of Rohingyas and the citizens of Bangladesh in Cox’s Bazar until a long term solution is found. Asked whether the U.S. wanted Bangladesh to receive new Rohingya refugees, Ambassador Dan Mozena said Bangladesh had a long tradition of hospitality and hoped that the government would uphold it in case Rohingyas arrive here.

Bangladesh, which had already sheltered thousands of Rohinga refugees, has taken tough stance this time. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also asked the international community to address the real issues so that the Rohingyas do not flee their homes repeatedly.

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...