ROHINGYA CRISIS: Bangladesh engages with parties in Rakhine: UNHCR

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Tuesday told the UN Security Council that the Bangladesh interim government chose to engage with the parties to the conflict in the Rakhine state to pursue a solution to the Rohingya crisis that remained stagnant for the past eight years.

‘But there is now an opportunity to break this dangerous inertia. The interim government of Bangladesh has chosen to engage with the parties to the conflict in Rakhine State in pursuit of a solution there—where it rightly lies,’ said the UN Refugee Agency chief while addressing the UN Security Council in New York.

‘Many will immediately say that such a solution today is impossible for all the reasons we know: too much blood has been shed, discrimination continues, and there are too many competing interests to balance. Many will say that the root causes will never be effectively addressed, and that may well be the case,’ he added.

He expressed his hope that the Security Council would continue to focus robustly on the situation in Myanmar, including the plight of the Rohingyas, saying, he looked forward to the conference planned for September in New York.

‘But we have been down the path of stagnation for eight years in respect of the Rohingya situation—it is a dead end,’ said Filippo Grandi, adding that from the perspective of pursuing solutions to the Rohingya plight.

‘..and in order to start recreating conditions for the return of refugees, dialogue with all parties is a critical first step so that humanitarian agencies, including UNHCR can reestablish their presence and resume providing desperately needed humanitarian relief—safely and freely,’ he added.

‘That, in turn, would provide a basis on which to restart discussions on the eventual return of displaced Rohingya—I stress: voluntarily, in safety and dignity—once the security situation in Rakhine allows, and from where other legal rights could also be pursued,’ he said.

‘For the last eight years, for example, stagnation has defined the response in Myanmar. The fighting between the Tatmadaw and different armed groups has caused immense suffering and large-scale displacement throughout the country and the region,’ he mentioned.

The plight of the Rohingya minority, in particular, has become even worse. Fighting in Rakhine State with the Arakan Army has been particularly vicious— 1.2 million Rohingya are refugees today, mostly in Bangladesh, in the camps around Cox’s Bazaar, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

‘We must thank Bangladesh and its people for having provided them refuge over the years. But Rohingya refugees languish in the camps, without work, deprived of agency, entirely dependent on humanitarian aid, which grows ever more precarious,’ he said

The UN Security Council’s permanent members are China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and the current 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly are— Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Somalia.