Nobel laureate trio arrive to see Rohingya situation
25 February, 2018
Three Nobel Laureates arrived in Dhaka for weeklong visit to Bangladesh on Saturday, and will go to Cox's Bazar on Sunday to see Rohingya situation on the ground.
"We are going to Cox's Bazar tomorrow (Sunday) and will return to Dhaka in the afternoon on February 27," an official who will accompany the Nobel Laureates told UNB on Saturday.
Nobel Laureates Shirin Ebadi (Iran), Mairead Maguire (Northern Ireland) and Tawakkol Karman (Yemen) will seek to gain a better understanding of the assistance and protection being provided by the Bangladeshi government and local communities, including the challenges they face.
They will also see the role of local and international organizations providing support to the Rohingya women in the camps and elsewhere.
The Nobel Women's Initiative, in partnership with local Bangladeshi women's organization, Naripokkho, is hosting the delegation to Bangladesh to witness and highlight the situation of the Rohingya refugees and the violence against Rohingya women-including high levels of sexual violence.
The Laureates will spend time in Dhaka and in refugee camps near Cox's Bazar meeting with female Rohingya refugees, Bangladesh government officials, human rights organizations and Canadian and other diplomats.
The delegation builds on more than a decade of work of the Nobel Women's Initiative in the region and with women's rights organizations in Burma.
Bangladesh is now hosting over 1 million Rohingyas including around 7 lakh new arrivals since August 25, 2017.
Mairead Maguire
Sunday is the six-month anniversary of the start of the Rohingya crisis, Asia's worst since the Vietnam War.
Quoting Tawakkol Karman The Associated Press in its report on Saturday said that she and her colleagues were standing "in solidarity with displaced Rohingya women and calling for Rohingya women's voices to be heard."
She said Rohingya women are twice victimized - for being Rohingya and for being women - and "are affected by the ethnic cleansing and are also subject to high levels of sexual and gender-based violence."
"Rohingya women's unique needs are largely unmet in refugee camps in Bangladesh," she said. "Less than 20 percent of displaced Rohingya women who have survived sexual violence have access to post-rape care."
Human Rights Watch has said in a report that Myanmar security forces raped and sexually assaulted women and girls before and during major attacks on villages.
Karman said Saturday that "accountability and justice" for crimes against the Rohingya people must be a priority for the international community.
"The refugee problem stems from the crimes against humanity being committed by the Myanmar military and government against the Rohingya," she said in the email.
Tawakkol Karman
The laureates will meet Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other officials and volunteers during their trip.
Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement late last year to start repatriation of the Rohingya, but the process, which was supposed to start last month, got delayed because of lack of preparation and security concerns.
The August violence erupted after an underground insurgent group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, attacked security outposts in Myanmar's Rakhine state. In retaliation, the military and Buddhist mobs launched "clearance operations" against Rohingya.
The Rohingya have long been treated as outsiders in Myanmar, even though their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless. They are denied freedom of movement and other basic rights.
U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi told the Security Council last week that conditions aren't right for Rohingya to voluntarily return because Myanmar hasn't addressed their denial of rights. Grandi also said Rohingya are still fleeing Myanmar and thousands more are expected to leave.
Bangladesh says more than a million Rohingya are currently living in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, a press briefing on the humanitarian response marking the six months of Rohingya influx will be held at9:30amatHotel Long Beach, Cox's Bazar on Sunday.
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