UN Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener is helping Myanmar, said its Foreign Secretary Myint Thu.
After having a meeting with Bangladesh acting foreign secretary Kamrul Ahsan in Dhaka Monday (Jul 29), Thu said, “She is serving as a bridge between UN system and the government of Myanmar on the issue of the Rakhine.”
Thu came to Bangladesh on Friday night and talked with Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar to persuade them to go back to Rakhine.
About her role, Thu said, “She is helping us. Even her suggestions were included in the factsheet we have prepared and circulated yesterday in the camps.”
Thu said, “She is helping us to resolve the issue and then she is also regularly reporting to UN General Assembly and also UN Security Council as well as the Human Rights Council based in Geneva.”
When asked about her recent comment that the situation in Rakhine is not conducive for repatriation, Thu said, “You misunderstood her expression on the rationale behind the prevailing situation in the northern rakhine.”
It is mentionable here that in a diplomatic briefing in Myanmar this month, Burgener tacitly accused Bangladesh about not doing enough for Rohingyas and lied that Dhaka did not allow a Myanmar delegation to visit Cox’s Bazaar.
On Jul 23 when she came to Dhaka and met Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque, she was grilled by Bangladesh why she gave wrong information to foreign diplomats in Myanmar.
Since Aug 2017, Rohingyas fled in groups to save themselves from the persecution of Myanmar military which drove them away from their houses in Rakhine.