UN and World Bank
chiefs visited Rohingya refugee camps today on 02-07-2018
UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim were in the
south-eastern Bangladeshi district of Cox's Bazar on Monday 02-07-2018, to
witness the plight of Rohingya refugees driven away from their homes in
Myanmar.
United Nations
Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called upon the international community
to step up support for Rohingyas currently living as refugees in Bangladesh.
He made the call
through a Tweet after visiting the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.
- “It is unbelievable. My heart is broken,” Guterres said while briefing reporters at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhiya this afternoon.
- Rohingya refugees
who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh want justice and safe return home, he said.
- Guterres said he
heard probably the most tragic stories, referring to the “unimaginable accounts
of killing and rape from Rohingya refugees”.
- He termed the
atrocities by Myanmar forces on the Rohingya people as “systematic violation of
human rights”.
- There is no doubt
that the Rohingyas are one of the most discriminated people on the Earth, he
said.
- Guterres said it
is unacceptable that these people have suffered so much in Myanmar.
- He called for a
deep gratitude to the government and people of Bangladesh for opening their
borders to the Rohingyas while so many borders in the world are closed.
- Solidarity
expressed by the international community regarding the Rohingya issue has not
been translated into sufficient support to the Rohingya people of Myanmar in
Bangladesh, the UN chief said.
- He urged
international community to step up to the plea and substantially increase
financial support for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
- Insisting on the
Rohingya peoples’ right to return to Myanmar, Guterres said the repatriation
should take place when the conditions for them to live with full dignity in
their own country are there.
Soon after visiting
the camps, Guterres, in a tweet, said that Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar
to camps in Cox’s Bazar want justice and a safe return home.
The UN secretary
general, who reached Cox’s Bazar on a special flight of Biman Bangladesh
Airlines at 8:45am, also said he heard “unimaginable accounts of killing and
rape from Rohingya refugees who recently fled Myanmar”. https://youtu.be/eCHqv0pnuqE
The World Bank Group
President Jim Yong Kim and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Filippo Grandi are also visiting Rohingya communities and humanitarian workers
in Cox's Bazar district to advocate for increased donor support.
After landing at the
Cox’s Bazar airport, the diplomats went directly to Hotel Sayeman where they
were briefed by Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, our staff correspondent
reports quoting Kamal Hossain, deputy commissioner of the district.
Bangladesh
Government gave an outline to the UN seeking assistance on the Rohingya crisis,
said the deputy commissioner.
From there, the trio
went to the Kutupalong Transit Camp and talked to the Rohingya refugees visited
a Women Friendly Space and a field hospital.
Since August last
year, more than 700,000 Rohingya have taken shelter in the Cox's Bazar district
from violence in Myanmar, making it the world's largest and fastest growing
refugee camp, and putting pressure on the environment, existing infrastructure,
and social services that were already constrained.
Credit: The Daily
Star