UN should help Rohingyas in Bhasan Char as per mandate: FM

Foreign Minister Abdul Momen today said the United Nations should help Rohingyas in Bhasan Char following the mandate on the basis of which the organisation works in Bangladesh.

"They [UN] should follow their mandate [on refugees]. It doesn't matter where they're living," he told reporters.

Momen said the UN should not think of whether the Rohingyas are living in Kutupalong, Bhasan Char or somewhere else. "It's their mandate to help them [refugees]. They should do it."

He said the government is currently providing food assistance to Rohingyas in Bhasan Char but hoped that the UN will come forward too.

Responding to a question, Momen said the relocation of Rohingyas to Bhasan Char will have no negative impact on repatriation efforts.

"We've made this arrangement for a short period. Maybe these people will get back to Myanmar in the first batch when Myanmar will start taking back Rohingyas from Bangladesh," he said.

On Saturday, UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka Mia Seppo said all the UN agencies recognise the enormous investment that the government of Bangladesh has made in building Bhasan Char for Rohingya relocation.

"We recognise the enormous investment...that's obviously a sign of the search for solutions in managing the situation," she told journalists after attending a programme marking the International Volunteer Day.

The government has invested more than US$ 350.00 million to develop the island.

The UNRC said the ultimate of the Rohingya crisis of course lies in Myanmar and it is Myanmar's responsibility to create conducive conditions for return of Rohingyas to their place of origin in Rakhine State.

She said all the UN agencies recognise the generosity of Bangladesh in hosting Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar. "That's a difficult situation."

Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar, and majority of them entered Bangladesh since August 25, 2017 amid military crackdowns against Rohingyas by the Myanmar security forces.

In the face of growing concern over the extreme congestion in the camps of Cox's Bazar and to avert any risk of death due to landslides and other unwarranted incidents, the government has decided to relocate, in phases, 1,00,000 Rohingyas to Bhashan Char.

Accordingly, in the first phase, more than 1600 Rohingyas, who expressed their willingness voluntarily for relocation, were shifted to Bhashan Char on Friday afternoon.

The foreign minister said the global leadership and the UN agencies have been extending lip services to the persecuted people of Myanmar and making statements again and again but no one came forward either for their relocation or sending them back to their country of origin -- Myanmar.

Momen said relocation of Rohingyas is taking place in phases in order to avoid deaths and accidents due to landslides and other untoward incidents in the overcrowded hilly areas of Kutopalong and also to provide better living for the time being.

Momen said while the international agencies make noise about facilities in the Rohingya camps or Bhasan Char, no one had the courage and sincerity to approach Myanmar to create conducive environment leading to their repatriation.

Over the last three years, trade and investment from Europe, ASEAN, China, Japan, UK have increased manifold in Myanmar in spite of violations of human rights in there, Momen observed.

He said none of the human rights organisations have started any blockade of those countries that are heavily investing in Myanmar nor asking for divestment as they did in the case of Apartheid in South Africa.

"Fact of the matter is, the Rohingya problem was created by Myanmar and they are the only one who can solve it," he said.

Momen said all international organisations and important countries of the world must commit themselves to approach Myanmar in a meaningful way to resolve this crisis, sooner the better.