UN special envoy visits Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – The United Nations special envoy for Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, on Tuesday visited the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh to assess the conditions of the persecuted people in the crammed settlement where they have been living for five years.

“The visit aims to know how Rohingya are living in the camps and about their hopes for the future including their feelings over a return to their home country in Myanmar’s Rakhine state,” Regina de la Portilla, communications officer of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), told reporters during the visit of Heyzer.

Underlining the sustainable repatriation of the Rohingya to their home country, she added that all the Rohingya they had talked with expressed their desire to go back to their homeland.

“The Rohingya people have assured us that they will return to their country if their life and properties are safe and they get back their citizenship rights,” Portilla added.

The UN special envoy visited the world’s largest refugee settlement and home to above 1.2 million Rohingya just one week after the visit of the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, who expressed concerns over the security situation in Rohingya camps and the vulnerability of women and girls.

Bachelet also expressed concerns about increasing anti-Rohingya rhetoric in Bangladesh, stereotyping and scapegoating the Rohingya as the source of crime and other problems.

Heyzer talked to Rohingya women and men and inspected different aid facilities being provided for the stateless people.

On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Rohingya exodus, the oppressed people expressed hope that the two top UN officials’ visit to the camps would revive the stalled repatriation process.

Bangladesh is hosting more than 1.2 million Rohingya, most of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in August 2017.

Support for Rohingya refugees

Meanwhile, UNHCR in a statement on Tuesday appealed for renewed support for Rohingya refugees.

“Five years later, many Rohingya refugees have told UNHCR they wish to return home to Myanmar as long as conditions for safe, dignified and sustainable returns are met and they can enjoy the freedom of movement, access to documentation and a pathway to citizenship, as well as access to services and income-generating activities,” said UNHCR spokesperson, Shabia Mantoo, at a press briefing in Geneva.

She said the Bangladeshi camps are extremely overcrowded, adding that the refugees remain fully reliant on humanitarian assistance for their survival.

“With decreased funding, they face many challenges in their daily lives … including proper nutrition, shelter materials, sanitation facilities and livelihood opportunities. Some have resorted to dangerous boat journeys to seek a better future,” Mantoo said.

The UNHCR seeks over $881 million for more than 1.4 million people, including Rohingya refugees and more than half a million most affected host communities, and is so far funded at only 49%, with $426.2 million received, said the statement.