Dr Yunus proposes UN-guaranteed safe zone for Rohingyas in Rakhine

Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus on Monday called on the international community to create a “safe zone guaranteed by the UN” for the displaced people in Rakhine and find ways to support them.

This will be “the best thing to get aid to them,” he told Thomas Andrews, the Special Rapporteur of the UN on the situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, who met him at his office, said a spokesperson of the Chief Adviser.

Dr Yunus said that it could be a “good beginning” to resolve the crisis in Rakhine and that it can prevent thousands of new refugees from entering Bangladesh.

The Chief Adviser also suggested talks with the international community, including ASEAN, over the violence and displaced people in Rakhine.

During the meeting, Dr Yunus sought support from the Special Rapporteur to expedite the resettlement of thousands of Rohingya refugees to a third country.

The International Criminal Court investigations into the atrocities committed against the Rohingyas in 2017 and the recent student-led revolution in Bangladesh also came up for discussions.

Special Rapporteur Andrews appreciated the Chief Adviser for his three-point proposal on the Rohingya crisis, which was floated on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York last month.

He said the violence in Rakhine state has created an “enormous crisis” in the state, and humanitarian aid is urgently needed for the displaced and starving people, including the Rohingyas.

The Special Rapporteur said at least 3.1 million people have been displaced in Myanmar, including hundreds of thousands in Rakhine, where insurgent groups have been fighting against the Myanmar military for years.

He noted that in recent weeks, some 30,000 Rohingyas have fled their homes in Rakhine and entered Bangladesh, which is already hosting more than a million Rohingyas in camps in the country’s southeastern Cox’s Bazar border district.

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