‘Not the right time Nurul Islam Hasib, bdnews24 Published: 2014-02-03 19:47:43.0 BdST Updated: 2014-02-03 20:26:06.0 BdST The condition in Myanmar is not yet right for voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh, a senior US official has said. Related Stories 2014-01-30 14:19:00.0 It’s a complex issue and it’s going to take time, many complex issues right now is being tackled by the Myanmar government, Cefkin said “The time has not come yet for that,” said Judith Cefkin, US Senior Adviser for Burma. Now visiting Bangladesh, Judith Cefkin on Monday urged Bangladesh to continue humanitarian support and “not push them (Rohingyas) back to where they are facing violence and from where they are fleeing”. Cefkin arrived in Dhaka on Sunday on her first visit to Bangladesh since she took up this position at the State Department in September last year. She left for Myanmar on Monday after briefing the media at the American Centre. She had hectic parleys with senior Bangladesh officials including Prime Minister’s International Affairs Adviser Gowher Rizvi and Junior Minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam. We discussed how the US and Bangladesh can together support Myanmar’s reforms and its development process, she said. Bangladesh is upset with the tensions with Myanmars Rakhine province that is forcing thousands of Muslim Rohingyas to flee the country into Bangladesh. “They are fleeing because they fear for their lives. They will know when conditions have changed sufficiently for them to feel safe and that is when they can volunteer to go back home. We should support that,” Cefkin said. But until that happened, she said, repatriation would mean pushing them into “a very dangerous situation”. Bangladesh gave shelter to thousands of refugees who fled the Rakhine province after sectarian clashes over the years. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, put the number in Bangladesh at over 200,000 with 30,000 documented refugees living in two government-run camps –the Kutupalong and Nayapara – within 2 km of the Myanmar border. Bangladesh government says more than 500,000 of them were living outside the camp in the country. Last year Bangladesh faced fresh influx after fresh outbreaks of violence in the Rakhine state. The global community including the US were pressing Bangladesh to open the border for the Rohingyas. The Senior Adviser said it is to uphold a general humanitarian principle that the US seeks the support of the governments to support the fleeing refugees”. She said for the host country, it is a duty to protect them, to receive them, and to see to their basic needs” in coordination with international partners. “If you are a doctor, if you see somebody sick and could be dying, you have responsibility to try to help them, and save them. “It’s a bit of that,” she said. Shutting the door may be condemning them to the very worst.” “So I think while they are working towards reconciliation, it’s really incumbent on other countries and especially neighbours like Bangladesh to shoulder the humanitarian responsibility”, Cefkin said. Bangladeshs role in sheltering the Rohingyas was highly appreciated worldwide, she said. The Senior Adviser said they were in “regular dialogue” with the Myanmar officials for durable and peaceful situation for Rohingays, “but that will take time”. “It’s a complex issue and it’s going to take time, many complex issues right now is being tackled by the Myanmar government,” she said. “But we don’t judge the current conditions to be right,” she said and insisted that the Rohingya refugees would return only when they can go back voluntarily. But she hoped that “soon the conditions would be different that would make it possible to consider returning home. She said Bangladesh was not the only country that has received refugees from Myanmar. Based on her experience working as Deputy Chief of Mission in Thailand she said she saw nine camps on Thai border with “lot of Burmese refugees”. She said apart from helping refugees, the US had resettled many and “we are prepare to undertake resettling more”. “I think that we are certainly very happy to talk about resettling those that are recognised and have refugee status and are seeking resettlement elsewhere”. She listed some steps that Myanmar government could take for a ‘stable’ Rakhine state, and also encouraged Bangladesh to be the partner of Myanmar in solving the crisis. She said the Myanmar government could increase security in Rakhine state to prevent fresh outbreaks of violence, and also launch strong development initiative to boost its economy. The Adviser said she saw “several transitions” simultaneously happening in Myanmar -- from authoritarian rule to democracy, from closed centralised economy to free market system and from conflict to national peace and reconciliation. But all these will take time. “United States is committed to helping Myanmars reforms,” Cefkin said , insisting that as a neighbour Bangladesh has “very important role to play”. She said Bangladesh-Myanmar relations were also significant for Indo-Pacific connectivity to help link South Asia and South East and East Asia and that holds the promise of economic vibrancy of the region. Is the US strategic stake in Myanmar very high because of the China factor? Cefkins candid reply: “We are not in competition with China. China is a big and important neighbour of Myanmar.” “Our policy is very much grounded in our desire for freedom and openness and to see them succeed on the road to openness, democracy and prosperity. “Our main interest is to see transition go forward in a way that is going to improve the lives of people of Burma”. She said the US was also ‘supportive’ of connectivity in the region including Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) cooperation for broader stability and prosperity of the region. The adviser also stressed on regional solutions of the Rohingya problem since refugees tend to end up in different countries by boat.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 18:04:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015