Bangla govt head Yunus calls for UN-guaranteed safe zone for Rakhine displaced people

Narinjara News, 15 October 2024

Bangladesh’s interim government head Professor Muhammad Yunus on Monday called for creating a ‘safe zone guaranteed by the UN’  for the displaced people in Rakhine State of Myanmar and finding ways to support them, said a report in Dhaka Tribune.

This will be ‘the best thing to get aid to them, said the chief adviser to the caretaker government in Dhaka, adding that it could be a ‘good beginning’ to resolve the crisis in Rakhine/Arakan and that it can prevent thousands of new refugees from entering into Bangladesh.

Nobel laureate Prof Yunus made the comment while Thomas Andrews, the special rapporteur of the UN on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, called on him at office.

Andrews appreciated the chief adviser for his three-point proposals on the Rohingya crisis, which were floated on the sidelines of the UNGA meeting in New York last month.

Popularly known as a banker to the poor, Prof Yunus stated that the violence in Rakhine State created an ‘enormous crisis’ and humanitarian aid was urgently needed for the displaced and starving people, including those of Rohingyas, said the chief adviser’s press wing.

The special rapporteur revealed that at least 3.1 million people were displaced in Myanmar, including hundreds of thousands in Rakhine State, where ethnic insurgent groups have been fighting against the Myanmar military personnel for years.

In recent weeks some 30,000 Rohingya people  fled their places and entered Bangladesh, which was already hosting more than a million Rohingyas in various camps in southeastern border districts of Bangladesh .

Prof Yunus also suggested talks with the international community, including the ASEAN, over the violence against the displaced people in the Rakhine region.

During their discussions, he also sought support from the UN special rapporteur to expedite the resettlement of thousands of Rohingya refugees in a third country.

The ICC investigations into the atrocities committed against the Rohingyas in 2017 and the recent student-led revolution in Bangladesh were also discussed in the meeting.