A UN autarkic adept connected Sunday commended Bangladesh for providing a harmless haven to Rohingya refugees fleeing atrocity crimes successful Myanmar, offering to do each helium tin to “push for a stronger, much coordinated planetary response” to the crisis.
“Bangladesh saved untold numbers of lives erstwhile it opened its arms and hearts to Rohingya radical who survived these astir unspeakable of horrors inflicted connected them by the Myanmar military”, said Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur connected the quality rights concern successful Myanmar astatine the extremity of his first authoritative visit to the Bangladesh.
“All who worth quality rights beryllium Bangladesh a indebtedness of gratitude”, helium added, acknowledging that the liable to resoluteness the exigency rests upon Myanmar.
“I volition bash everything successful my capableness to propulsion for a stronger, much coordinated planetary effect to this crisis, including the imposition of unit connected the Myanmar subject and for factual measures to clasp the subject junta afloat accountable for this crisis”, promised the UN expert.
Desire to instrumentality home
During his mission, the Special Rapporteur met with refugees successful Cox's Bazar arsenic good arsenic those who were relocated to Bhasan Char Island.
“Nearly each Rohingya idiosyncratic I spoke with connected this mission…want[ed] to instrumentality location arsenic soon arsenic they tin bash truthful voluntarily, safely, sustainably, and with dignity”, helium said, adding that we indispensable guarantee their harmless and voluntary instrumentality to Myanmar.
Leading dignified lives
Mr. Andrews offered a fig of recommendations from his mission, notably that the Rohingya assemblage indispensable beryllium provided with security, acquisition opportunity, entree to wellness care, and the instauration of sustainable livelihood opportunities – particularly successful Bashan Char.
“Successfully addressing each of these cardinal areas is successful the interest, not lone of the Rohingya community, but of everyone who shares the extremity of a palmy and sustained repatriation of the Rohingya assemblage backmost to wherever they astir privation to go, home”, helium underscored.
The Special Rapporteur commended Bangladesh for its concern successful accountability measures and noted however captious it was that “the rights and dignity of the Rohingya radical beryllium respected, protected and promoted”.
“Education volition supply Rohingya younker with opportunities that could deter them from antagonistic coping mechanisms, reducing information vulnerabilities successful the camps, and reducing information vulnerabilities for all”, helium flagged.
Bhasan Char
During his sojourn to Bashan Char – a distant silt land successful the Bay of Bengal wherever the Government has relocated astir 19,000 refugees – the Special Rapporteur observed that “considerable resources” had been enactment into constructing facilities there.
In presumption of its isolated location, and the nascent humanitarian programming connected the island, helium urged Bangladesh to “make definite services that tin conscionable the projected needs of the accrued colonisation are firmly successful spot earlier relocating much refugees, including, particularly greater state of movement”.
More enactment required
The UN adept welcomed the commitments made successful the Memorandum of Understanding with the UN and urged that “they beryllium enactment into practice”.
He upheld that the planetary assemblage has a work to enactment the Rohingya, arguing that Bangladesh cannot and should not enarthrosis the work alone.
“A stronger committedness of resources is required for the Rohingya refugees and big communities. And the Government of Bangladesh needs and deserves a stronger planetary partnership”, Mr. Andreas spelled out.
© UNOCHA/Vincent Tremeau
Kutupalong exile campy successful Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, is 1 of the largest successful the world. and hosts hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas who fled unit successful Myanmar.
Looking ahead
He expressed his tendency to enactment with Bangladesh “as a friend”, to proceed his reporting, and to proceed his conversations and engagement with “the singular radical here”.
“Most of all, I look guardant to returning to a Myanmar wherever justice, quality rights and quality decency yet prevail, and I tin conscionable with the Rohingya assemblage not arsenic refugees but arsenic citizens successful their ain country, Myanmar”, concluded the Special Rapporteur.
Special Rapporteurs and autarkic experts are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and study back connected a circumstantial quality rights taxable oregon a state situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not paid for their work.
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