Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has called on the United Nations to establish a "UN-guaranteed safe zone" for displaced people in Rakhine and find ways to support them.
"This will be the best way to deliver aid to them," Professor Yunus stated, adding that it could be a "positive start" toward resolving the ongoing crisis in Rakhine. He emphasised that it could prevent thousands of new refugees from crossing into Bangladesh.
Professor Yunus made this appeal during a meeting with Thomas Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, who paid a courtesy visit to the Chief Adviser’s office in Tejgaon, Dhaka, on Monday.
Special Rapporteur Andrews expressed his appreciation for Professor Yunus' three-point proposal on the Rohingya crisis, which had been presented on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month.
He acknowledged that the violence in Rakhine has created a "massive humanitarian crisis," noting the urgent need for aid to assist displaced and starving people, including the Rohingya.
Andrews highlighted that over 3.1 million people have been displaced across Myanmar, including hundreds of thousands in Rakhine State, where armed insurgencies have long been battling the Myanmar military. In recent weeks, he added, around 30,000 Rohingyas have fled Rakhine and entered Bangladesh, which is already sheltering more than a million refugees in camps near Cox's Bazar.
During the meeting, Professor Yunus also urged dialogue with the international community, including ASEAN, to address the violence and the situation of displaced people in Rakhine. He sought the Special Rapporteur’s support in expediting the resettlement of Rohingya refugees to third countries.
The discussions also touched upon the ongoing International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations into the atrocities committed against the Rohingya in 2017, as well as the recent student-led revolution in Bangladesh.
