UN urges Myanmar to act more for Rohingya refugee returns

The United Nations on Wednesday urged Myanmar to take steps for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to their homes in northern Rakhine State.

United Nations aid agencies called on Myanmar on Wednesday to improve conditions in Rakhine state for the safe return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh and provide a clear pathway to citizenship for those eligible.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Development Programme are seeking an improvement of the conditions in Rakhine State for their return.

He said the agencies are seeking effective access; ensuring freedom of movement for all communities and addressing root causes of the crisis that saw some 1 million Rohingya flee in the last year, nearly all to Bangladesh.

Two months since the signing of the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UNHCR and the UNDP and the Government of Myanmar, UNHCR and UNDP issued the plea.

The refugee agency has said nearly 1 million Rohingya fled into neighboring Bangladesh — nearly 700,000 of them into the Cox’s Bazar District in the southern-most part of Bangladesh — while hundreds of thousands fled to other nations in Southeast Asia.

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