MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2021) The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Friday called on the international community to step up assistance efforts to refugees from Myanmar's Rohingya ethnic group, who live in host camps of Bangladesh in exile from their home country.
The call concerns 472,000 Bangladeshis and over 880,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim group, based in camps in Cox's Bazar district in Bangladesh. According to the agency, some 740,000 Rohingya camp residents had fled to the country as a result of the 2017 displacement crisis, involving their prosecutions by the Myanmar military due to a series of attacks on police posts in Rakhine state, allegedly carried out by Rohingya militants.
"With the refugee crisis in its fourth year, Bangladesh needs robust and sustained international support to ensure the safety and wellbeing of stateless Rohingya refugees. This must not become a forgotten crisis. Both Rohingya refugees and Bangladesh, having generously hosted them for decades, must see the world standing with them," UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic said at a press briefing at the Palace of Nations in Geneva.
The statement comes as the agency prepares to launch the 2021 Joint Response Plan (JRP), a $943 million initiative targeting nearly 1.4 million people living in Cox's Bazar District camps and surrounding areas. Besides, on May 18 the UNHCR is due to hold an online donor conference, where the plan is due to enter into force, jointly with the International Organization for Migration and the Bangladeshi authorities.
Mahecic noted that the ongoing displacement crisis has been aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic, and even though the response by the Bangladeshi government has so far been effective enough to contain the virus spread in the camps, refugees remain in need of "humanitarian assistance and protection services" that must be ensured.
Another task on the agenda to help refugees is to ensure housing solutions for them, the spokesman went on.
"More must be done to ensure that refugees have hope in Bangladesh, and of a future back home in Myanmar. Otherwise, they may increasingly risk such journeys by land or sea to find a solution elsewhere," he said.
Mahecic also stressed that the international community has to "adapt to new and emerging needs" of Rohingya refugees, referring to the last year's UN call on the world's states to collect $1 billion for this purpose. However, only 59.4% of the package was completed, the spokesman explained, adding that the volume of humanitarian response is unstable, given "political instability in Myanmar," but must nonetheless remain a priority.
On February 1, the Myanmar military overthrew the civilian government and declared a year-long state of emergency. The coup triggered mass protests and was met by deadly violence, resulting in the death of over 700 people. Additionally, about 3,000 protesters were detained, according to rights activists.
