UN Secretary-General Guterres arrives in Bangladesh to meet Rohingyas

Senior Correspondent  bdnews24.com

Published: 2018-07-01 02:21:35.0 BdST Updated: 2018-07-01 02:31:02.0 BdST

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  t Rohingyas

  António Guterres. Reuters

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has arrived in Dhaka to visit Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar jointly with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali received Guterres when the Qatar Airways plane landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after 2am on Sunday, one of Ali’s aides told bdnews24.com.

From the airport, Guterres travelled to Radisson Blu Water Garden hotel where he is staying along with Kim during the two-day visit.

The World Bank president arrived on Saturday evening.

 

Jim Yong Kim. File Photo: Mostafigur Rahman

Both the UN and the World Bank chiefs will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday morning. They will also visit the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi. The prime minister will host a dinner in their honour.

The visit would highlight the “generosity” of Bangladesh in hosting the largest refugee influx of 2017 and the need for the international community to do more, the UN said.

The visit also aims to lay the ground for further dialogue with the government of Bangladesh on medium-term planning for the refugee situation and to reiterate the UN and World Bank’s support for finding “comprehensive solutions” to the situation of the Rohingya people.

On Monday, Guterres and Kim will travel to Cox’s Bazar to visit Rohingya refugee communities and humanitarian workers, and advocate for more donor support.

The chiefs of the UN and World Bank will be accompanied by High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and Executive Director of the UN Population Fund Natalia Kanem.

They will review the situation of the newly arrived Rohingyas in Bangladesh, and assess progress towards a safe, voluntary and dignified return of refugees in line with international standards, the UN said.

Secretary-General Guterres is expected back in New York on Tuesday.

António Guterres

✔@antonioguterres

I welcome the announcement by @WorldBank of support to Bangladesh for Rohingya refugees and host communities. Ahead of my visit with @JimYongKim, I commend Bangladesh’s generosity in hosting the refugees. We must step up our support. https://bit.ly/2IEC6o5 

2:57 AM - Jun 30, 2018

UN chief heads to Bangladesh to spotlight continuing perils facing Rohingya refugees

The continuing plight of nearly one million Rohingya refugees driven from their homes in Myanmar will be the focus of the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres when he travels to Bangla...

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About 700,000 of the Muslim Rohingya population have fled largely Buddhist Myanmar to Bangladesh after a military crackdown in August 2017 that the United Nations has called ‘ethnic cleansing’.

Bangladesh is in talks with Myanmar to repatriate the refugees. The international community has called upon Myanmar to ensure an environment so that the refugees can return voluntarily.

The UN secretary-general has asked Myanmar to address the root causes of the violence and the responsibility of the Myanmar government to provide security and assistance to those in need.

In a recent move, judges at the International Criminal Court gave Myanmar a deadline to respond to a prosecution request that the ICC should exercise jurisdiction over the alleged crimes.