GENEVA: Nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees have fled violence in Myanmar, an “untenable situation” for neighbor Bangladesh, the country’s UN envoy said on Monday, calling on Myanmar to let them return.
About 600,000 people have crossed the border since Aug. 25, when insurgent attacks on security posts were met by a ferocious counter-offensive by the Myanmar army in Rakhine state which the United Nations has called ethnic cleansing.
“This is the biggest exodus from a single country since the Rwandan genocide in 1994,” Shameem Ahsan, Bangladesh’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, told a UN pledging conference.
“Despite claims to the contrary, violence in Rakhine state has not stopped. Thousands still enter on a daily basis,” he said.
Bangladesh’s interior minister was in Yangon on Monday for talks to find a “durable solution,” Ahsan said.
But Myanmar continued to issue “propaganda projecting Rohingyas as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh,” Ahsan said, adding: “This blatant denial of the ethnic identity of Rohingyas remains a stumbling block.”
Myanmar considers the Rohingya to be stateless, although they trace their families’ presence in the country for generations.
Jordan’s Queen Rania visited Rohingya refugee camps on Monday and called for a stronger response from the international community to the plight of the Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh to escape “systematic persecution” in Myanmar.
“One has to ask, why is the plight of this Muslim minority group being ignored? Why has the systematic prosecution been allowed to play out for so long?” she asked after touring the camps.
The United Nations has appealed for $434 million to provide life-saving aid to 1.2 million people for six months.
“We need more money to keep pace with intensifying needs. This is not an isolated crisis, it is the latest round in a decades-long cycle of persecution, violence and displacement,” UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told the talks.
“Children, women and men fleeing Myanmar are streaming into Bangladesh traumatized and destitute,” he added.
“We assess we have pledges of around $340 million,” Lowcock said before the mid-day break in the meeting.
New pledges included 30 million euros announced by the European Union, $15 million by Kuwait, 10 million Australian dollars by Australia and 12 million pounds from Britain.
He reiterated the UN call on Myanmar to allow “full humanitarian access across Rakhine” where aid agencies have been denied entry.
Myanmar must “guarantee the right to safe, voluntary and dignified return so that the Rohingya can live in peace with their human rights upheld in Rakhine,” Lowcock said.
Bangladesh says Rohingya outflow “untenable,” seeks solution
Bangladesh says Rohingya outflow “untenable,” seeks solution
Pakistan PM briefs parliamentary leaders on Middle East tensions, Afghanistan fighting
- Leaders of major parties attend meeting on regional security and Pakistan’s military campaign
- Government is expected to update lawmakers on diplomatic efforts amid Gulf conflict escalation
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday started briefing leaders of parliamentary parties on rising regional tensions, including fighting along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and the escalating war in the Middle East, according to a statement by his office.
The meeting comes as Pakistan has intensified military operations against the Afghan Taliban and militant groups targeting its civilians and security forces along its western frontier while the wider region faces growing instability after recent US-Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent attacks across the Gulf.
Sharif decided to convene the session to update political leaders on the security situation and Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach as tensions spread across the region.
“The prime minister will take parliamentary leaders into confidence regarding the Pakistan-Afghanistan situation and the recent tensions in the region, particularly in the Middle East and the Gulf,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
“The meeting will also highlight Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts during the recent escalation,” it added.
Representatives of major political parties, including the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and other parliamentary groups are attending the meeting.
Pakistan has accused Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of allowing militant groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to operate from Afghan territory, allegations Kabul denies. Islamabad says it has targeted militant hideouts across the border after repeatedly raising the issue with Afghan officials.
The briefing also comes as the government closely monitors developments in the Middle East, where regional tensions have heightened concerns about energy supplies and broader security implications for the country.
