ZCZC
BSS-23
US-MYANMAR-ROHINGYA
US calls Myanmar to create conditions for dignified Rohingya repatriation
DHAKA, Sept 25, 2019 (BSS) – The USA has urged Myanmar to create
conditions inside Rakhine as per Rohingyas’ demands for ensuring safe and
dignified return of these forcefully displaced people from Bangladesh.
“We continue to call on Burma (Myanmar) to create the conditions that would
allow for voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable returns, based on the
informed consent of those who (Rohingyas) have been forcibly displaced,” said
a statement issued by the US embassy here today.
It said, the USA encourages Myanmar to work with Bangladesh to facilitate
the use of the Burmese curriculum to teach Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
“This will help facilitate the reintegration of Rohingya youth who choose to
return to Burma,” it said.
The USA made the call today in New York while announcing more than $127
million in additional humanitarian assistance for Rohingyas and host
Bangladeshi communities and internally displaced Rohingya and members of
other affected communities in Myanmar, said the statement.
It said this funding will help address the emergency needs of some of the
more than 900,000 displaced people in Bangladesh, many of whom are Rohingya
women and children from Rakhine State as well as the related needs of
Bangladeshi host communities.
The USA remains the leading contributor to the humanitarian response to
this crisis in Myanmar and Bangladesh, having provided more than $669 million
since the outbreak of violence in August 2017.
The USA commends the Bangladesh government’s generosity in responding to
this humanitarian crisis and appreciates its continued efforts to ensure
assistance reaches the affected populations.
“The US government remains committed to ensuring that humanitarian and
development assistance continues to reach the Bangladeshi communities who
have so generously hosted Rohingya refugees,” it said.
Acknowledging that the US cannot meet the crisis’ tremendous funding needs
alone, the statement said the USA welcomes other UN member states
humanitarian contribution in recent months, and “we call on other countries
and stakeholders to do the same”.
Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million forcefully displaced Rohingyas in
Cox’s Bazar district and most of them arrived there since August 25, 2017
after a military crackdown by Myanmar, which the UN called a “textbook
example of ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” by other rights groups.
BSS/PR/TA/ARS/1659 hrs