UN conference to provide concrete pathways to resolve Rohingya crisis, hopes CA Yunus
He requests Tom Andrews to continue efforts in ensuring availability of adequate funding
Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has expressed the hope that the UN Conference in New York in September will provide concrete pathways to the resolution of the prolonged Rohingya crisis.
He said that the recent cut in financial support to the Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh is taking its toll on the provision of essential services, including health and education.
The chief adviser requested Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews to continue his efforts in ensuring the availability of adequate funding.
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The issues were discussed when Andrews called on CA Yunus on yesterday (21 August), said Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder today (22 August).
Andrew lauded the leadership of the chief adviser for keeping the Rohingya issue at the forefront of the international agenda.
He recalled the successful initiative of the chief adviser to convene a UN International Conference on the Rohingyas, which will be held on 30 September at the UN headquarters in New York.
"The world is grateful to Bangladesh for its generosity to host and support the Rohingyas and to you for keeping the hope of a lasting solution alive," said Andrews.
He praised Bangladesh's engagement with different stakeholders in order to resolve the crisis.
Andrew expressed disappointment that the UN Secretary-General's promising initiative to establish a humanitarian channel to stabilise Rakhine and create conditions for refugees to return fell victim to malicious propaganda.
Despite this setback, he expressed optimism that continued efforts by the relevant stakeholders can find an early and durable solution and urged Bangladesh to continue its leadership role to this end.
Andrews is visiting Bangladesh to attend the stakeholders dialogue on the Rohingya issue to be held in Cox's Bazar on 25 August, which the chief adviser will inaugurate.
Additionally, Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam yesterday said the interim government is actively engaging with international stakeholders to address the Rohingya crisis, bringing the issue back to global forums as a major topic of discussion and working towards a roadmap for the safe and dignified return of Rohingyas to Myanmar.
The press secretary added that two more international conferences are scheduled later this year in New York and Doha, with the largest taking place in the last week of September in New York.
Repatriation, funding, and a comprehensive roadmap
He said Rohingya representatives, delegates from 40 countries, diplomats based in Dhaka, and representatives from UN agencies will participate in the Cox's Bazar conference.
Alam noted that a special discussion with Rohingya representatives will take place on 24 August.
The three-day conference will highlight issues of repatriation, funding, and a comprehensive roadmap for the safe return of Rohingyas.
Around 170 countries are expected to join a high-level conference on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar, to be organized on September 30 in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Earlier, on 26 June, Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said the interim government is working on three fronts: ensuring uninterrupted foreign funding, keeping the issue alive amid other global crises, and securing the safe and dignified return of Rohingyas.
"The issue should not be forgotten. We continuously bring it into focus. We are working on three fronts," he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"We are facing mounting humanitarian, developmental, and security-related challenges," Adviser Hossain said recently while speaking at the OIC Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee on Accountability for Human Rights Violations against the Rohingyas.
Overstretching diminished resources
Cutbacks in humanitarian aid from the United States and other foreign donors have worsened the existing education crisis for 4,37,000 school-age children in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch reported recently.
On 3 June, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) suspended thousands of learning centres run by non-governmental organisations in the refugee camps due to lack of funding.
Currently, the only education available in the camps is provided by schools established by the Rohingya community without external support or official recognition.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and humanitarian partners are mobilising to respond to the needs of up to 1,50,000 Rohingya refugees who have arrived in Cox's Bazar over the last 18 months.
Among the new Rohingya arrivals, nearly 1,21,000 had been biometrically identified by the end of June, with more believed to be residing informally in the already overcrowded refugee camps.
The overwhelming majority of the new arrivals are women and children.
More humanitarian support is urgently required, as the new arrivals largely depend on the solidarity of those already living in the camps, further overstretching severely diminished resources.
