UN wants proof Rohingya will be safe
MYANMAR: The United Nations has demanded access to northwest Myanmar after the government of Aung San Suu Kyi announced details of a scheme to take back some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims driven by its army into Bangladesh.
UN agencies, aid groups and many of the refugees have expressed deep misgivings about the plan being developed by the Bangladeshi and Myanmar governments. They fear it would transfer the displaced masses from one set of miserable refugee camps, where they are at least safe, to even worse conditions in Myanmar, where they would be vulnerable to persecution by the security forces that expelled them.
The government of Bangladesh, which is jointly responsible for the plan, announced that the transfer would be completed within two years, after its scheduled start next week.
The aim is to establish five transit camps in Bangladesh from which refugees would be sent to two ‘‘reception centres’’ across the river border in Myanmar. But almost all Rohingya say that without the promise of citizenship and security guarantees overseen by the UN, they are determined to stay on the safe side of the border.
The Myanmar government insists that the Rohingya, whom it calls ‘‘Bengalis’’, are illegal immigrants and few have been accepted as Myanmar citizens.
The presence of foreign observers or peacekeepers would not be tolerated by Suu Kyi’s government or armed forces. Even international aid agencies are allowed only the most restricted access to the northern state of Rakhine, from which the refugees fled.
Andrej Mahecic, a spokesman for the UN high commissioner for refugees, said: ‘‘We and our partners need urgent, unhindered access in Rakhine state in order to assess the situation and provide support to those in need and to help with rebuilding efforts.’’
The 700,000 Rohingya have crossed the Myanmar border into Bangladesh since late August, when small-scale attacks by Rohingya militants provoked massive reprisals by the Myanmar army, police and civilian vigilantes. The response has been described by the UN as ‘‘a textbook example of ethnic cleansing’’.
‘‘As we get closer to the cyclone and monsoon seasons, what is already a dire humanitarian situation risks becoming a catastrophe,’’ Edouard Beigbeder, of Unicef, said. ‘‘Hundreds of thousands of children are living in horrific conditions and they will face an even greater risk of disease, flooding, landslides and further displacement.’’ –