{"id":122255,"date":"2018-11-19T12:00:22","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=122255"},"modified":"2018-11-26T11:24:26","modified_gmt":"2018-11-26T11:24:26","slug":"unicef-welcomes-bangladesh-statement-that-rohingya-will-not-be-forced-to-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/11\/unicef-welcomes-bangladesh-statement-that-rohingya-will-not-be-forced-to-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"UNICEF Welcomes Bangladesh Statement That Rohingya Will Not Be Forced to Leave"},"content":{"rendered":"

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UN Children\u2019s Fund UNICEF<\/a> on Friday, 16 Nov, welcomed confirmation from the Bangladesh authorities that Rohingya refugees will not be returned to Myanmar against their will, amid reported ongoing rights violations there.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

16 Nov 2018 – <\/em>Hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh\u2019s Cox\u2019s Bazar camps since late August 2017, amid widespread and systematic violence perpetrated against them.<\/p>\n

An investigation commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council<\/a> maintained that the violence was principally committed by the country\u2019s security forces – particularly the military \u2013 and many violations amounted to the gravest crimes under international law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen widespread reports that Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh may be forcibly repatriated to Myanmar, reports that UNICEF views with the utmost concern,\u201d UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac told journalists in Geneva.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe camp authorities reinforced the message that while they are ready to repatriate refugees on a voluntary basis, no Rohingya refugee will be forced to return to Myanmar if they do not wish to do so,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

UNICEF\u2019s comments reflect the views of Rohingya refugees sheltering in Cox\u2019s Bazar, where conditions are \u201cpreferable to the perceived risks of returning to Myanmar\u201d, Mr Boulierac said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnofficial polls conducted by our UNICEF colleagues in the camps have all reached the same conclusion: the overwhelming majority of refugees are unwilling to be repatriated unless their safety can be guaranteed,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

In a regular Press briefing, Mr. Boulierac insisted that Rohingya communities inside Myanmar are still extremely vulnerable, before appealing for unhindered and simplified humanitarian access.<\/p>\n

\u201cRohingya children and families who remain in Rakhine state continue to face particular hardship and are in need of humanitarian assistance due to ongoing restrictions on their freedom of movement and limited access to essential services, such as health and education,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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A Rohingya refugee from Myanmar sits with two out of her four children in their shelter at Nayapara camp, south-east Bangladesh on 22 October 2018. \u00a9 UNHCR\/Chris Melzer<\/p><\/div>\n

Return must be a ‘free and informed choice’ – UNHCR<\/strong><\/p>\n

UNICEF\u2019s comments follow an appeal from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees<\/a> (UNHCR<\/a>), Filippo Grandi, that Rohingya refugee returns \u201cshould only take place at their freely expressed wish\u201d.<\/p>\n

Echoing that message, UNHCR<\/a> spokesperson Andrej Mahecic stressed on Friday that refugee repatriation \u201canywhere in the world is based on the premise of the free and informed choice by the people who are supposed to return\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat has been our consistent line,\u201d Mr. Mahecic told journalists, \u201calso that has been a principle that is reflected in all of the documents, including the bilateral agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar that the international standards of refugee repatriation will be observed.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the \u201cincredibly worrying\u201d situation inside Myanmar, UNICEF remains seriously concerned about refugee children inside Bangladesh, warning of a \u201clost generation\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a bid to help youngsters in Cox\u2019s Bazar, the UN agency is continuing to roll out a series of educational initiatives for children of all ages, including providing a network of Learning Centres and Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs).<\/p>\n

There are now more than 1,100 learning centres run by UNICEF and its partners in the camps which reach 124, 000 children with education, Mr. Boulierac said.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 news.un.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UN Children\u2019s Fund UNICEF on Friday, 16 Nov, welcomed confirmation from the Bangladesh authorities that Rohingya refugees will not be returned to Myanmar against their will, amid reported ongoing rights violations there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":113850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[677,82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-updates-on-myanmar-rohingya-genocide","category-united-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}