UN NEWS
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has
applauded Bangladesh for giving a safe haven to hundreds of thousands of
Rohingya refugees driven from their homes in Myanmar by systematic and
widespread violence.
On mission in Bangladesh, the Secretary-General praised
the country for keeping its borders open and receiving those in need of
international protection.
“In a world where so many borders are closed, [the people
and Government of Bangladesh] have opened their borders and received their
brothers and sisters coming from Myanmar and from the terrible events there,”
said Mr. Guterres in the capital Dhaka on Sunday.
The UN chief also praised the World Bank for its recently
announced multi-million-dollar grant for Bangladesh to support both refugees
and the communities hosting them.
Mr. Guterres noted the progress made by Bangladesh since
its independence and highlighted the country’s integration of the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into
its national planning frameworks, as an “example that many others can follow.”
Mr. Guterres also warned of the impact of climate change,
particularly for countries such as Bangladesh, where much of the land lies
close to sea-level.
He called for greater political will to realize the
commitments made through the 2015 Paris
climate change agreement and urged countries to raise their ambition to limit
temperature rises.
The UN chief also underscored the importance of
empowering women and youth, calling for young people to be given more opportunities and great access to
education.
The Secretary-General arrived in Bangladesh early on
Sunday as part of a joint trip with the President of the World Bank Group, Jim
Yong Kim.
On Sunday, Mr. Guterres and Mr. Kim also met with Sheikh
Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, where they discussed collaboration
with her government to address the complex Rohingya crisis. They spoke about
how they could work together to create conditions conducive for the return of
Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, while at the same time, improving condtions for
them in Bangladesh.
“By hosting the Rohingya, Bangladesh has done a great
service for the world. We will support this effort any way we can,” said Mr.
Kim in a tweet following the meeting.
The Secretary-General and the World Bank Group President
also visited the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum which was the house of Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman, the first President of Bangladesh and father of the
current Prime Minister. He and other members of his family were assassinated
there in August 1975 by a group of soldiers.
Later in the evening, the Secretary-General and his
delegation were hosted for an official dinner by the Prime Minister of
Bangladesh.
On his mission, Mr. Guterres is being accompanied by
number of senior UN officials, including the High Commissioner for Refugees,
Filippo Grandi, and the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA),
Natalia Kanem.
On Monday, they are due to travel to Cox’s Bazar in
southern Bangladesh to visit Rohingya refugee communities and humanitarian
workers.
Since late August 2017, violence against Myanmar’s
mainly-Muslim minority Rohingya, forced hundreds of thousands to flee their
homes in Rakhine state and seek refuge across the border, in Bangladesh. Prior
to that, well over 200,000 Rohingya refugees were already sheltering in
Bangladesh as a result of earlier displacements.
Even though the number of new arrivals has tapered off,
and an agreement has been reached between the UN on the ground and the
government, over establishing conditions in Myanmar to allow refugees’ voluntary
and safe return, UN agencies there have reported that such conditions have not
yet materialized.
As of 24 May, there are an estimated 905,000 refugees in
Cox’s Bazar. To address the ongoing and increasing needs, the UN launched a
Joint Response Plan in March, urging $951 million to provide life-saving
assistance the refugees and host communities. However, the appeal remains only
18 per cent funded.