UN refugeee agency UNHCR has no access to Rakhine even though the organization along with UNDP signed an agreement with Myanmar for safe repatriation of Rohingyas.
“Over the last couple of months we did not have any access to Rakhine,” said UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Refugee Volker Turk at a press briefing held at a local hotel Thursday.
He said they had access to 60 villages in Rakhine in 2018 and since then they are not allowed in Rakhine.
It is important to work with Myanmar government to have unfettered access to Rakhine so that voluntary repatriation with dignity is possible, he said.
Terming the situation in Rakhine very complex, he said the UN is in discussion with the Myanmar government to implement Rakhine Commission report prepared by Kofi Annan team.
In his opening remark he said, when the Rohingyas came to Bangladesh they were traumatized, but now “they want to have meaningful and productive life.”
He said, “We need to support them so that they can have meaningful and productive life here.”
Whatever we do today for them, it will be an investment in their own future and it also a very important investment for the future of Bangladesh, he said.
Over one million Rohingyas are now living in Bangladesh as they had to flee Rakhine to save their lives from the brutal operations conducted by Myanmar military against them.