Solution to Rohingya crisis lies in Myanmar

Staff Correspondent: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi reiterated its position saying both the origin of and solution to the Rohingya crisis lie in Myanmar.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees made the comment while addressing a press conference at a city hotel on Monday.

“The origin of this crisis and the solution to this crisis both lie in Myanmar…,” he said.

Referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s stance, Filippo Grandi said she clearly told him that the solution to this problem is the voluntary return of these people to their own country (Myanmar) and he also agreed with her.

“I’ll add (what we always attach to repatriation process) in safety and dignity or in a safe manner and dignified manner.  It’s not safe and dignified to force them or pushed them back to Myanmar,” he said.

According to the UN’s latest figure, some 436,000 Rohingyas fled violence in Rakhine and took shelter in Bangladesh this time, he mentioned.

Grandi said the root cause of Rohingya crisis is lack of citizenship and stateless people who do not have citizenship.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees arrived in Bangladesh on Saturday and visited Kutubpalong Refugee camp and other areas along the border where Rohingya people have made their own shelters.

“Their situation remains desperate and we risk a dramatic deterioration if aid is not rapidly stepped up,” he said.

He thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Bangladesh for keeping its borders open to receive these refugees.

“I talked to the people who had experienced the most unimaginable horrors. They had seen villages burned down, families shot or hacked to death, women and girls brutalized,” he said.

Many of the refugees said they would like to go home, but that needs an end to violence, and a restoration of rights inside Myanmar, he added.

“The report issued in August by the Rakhine Advisory Commission, led by Kofi Annan, provides an important roadmap for addressing the root causes that have contributed to the current crisis,” said Grandi.

risingbd/Dhaka/Sept 25, 2017/Saif/Amirul