The current situation on the other side of the border “is not suitable for returns”, according to Bachelet
17 (EUROPE PRESS)
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, told the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, during her visit to Dhaka that the refugees from the Rohingya ethnic minority must return to their homes in Burma.
Faced with this proposal, Bachelet has pointed out that “the current situation on the other side of the border” is not “suitable for returns.” “Repatriation should always be carried out in a voluntary and dignified manner, only when safe and sustainable conditions exist in Burma,” he added.
“I am very concerned about the rise of anti-Rohingya rhetoric in Bangladesh, stereotypes and scapegoating as a source of crime and other issues. I am particularly concerned that a pre-election context, combined with economic difficulties and uncertainties, means more hate speech against these vulnerable communities,” Bachelet said on Wednesday.
In this way, he has urged the Government of Bangladesh and all actors to “be vigilant against such harmful rhetoric, to actively counter misinformation with facts and to foster understanding with host communities.”
Bachelet has also called on the Bangladeshi authorities to create educational and employment opportunities in the Cox Bazar Rohingya camp in Bangladesh, where she visited this week, where she met with religious leaders, as well as women and youth groups.
On her visit to Cox Bazar, a group of refugees urged Bachelet to get involved in providing favorable conditions in Burma that would allow their repatriation. Khin Maung, a Rohingya youth leader, criticized the institution’s lack of action, speaking to the Turkish Anadolu news agency.
“The UN is doing the best it can to support them. We will continue to do that,” Bachelet said, adding that they have to deal “with the deep roots of the problem.” “We have to deal with that and make sure that they can return to Burma when the conditions for safety and voluntary return exist,” he said.
Likewise, Bachelet explained to Hasina this Wednesday that if the Rohingya minority is not guaranteed access to safe housing in Burma, their return may lead to human rights violations, according to the newspaper ‘The Daily Star’. .
During the meeting with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, both discussed other current global issues, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the international sanctions against Russia in the framework of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has created a global crisis.
“Bangladesh is having to weather these storms which have combined here with particular intensity and hit the most marginalized and excluded the hardest. These include, in particular, women, informal workers, street vendors, minorities, people with disabilities, children and migrants. Bachelet said.
In this sense, it has focused on the “increasingly deep” impact of climate change and environmental degradation, which today constitutes “the greatest risk to Human Rights”, according to a statement from the Office of the High United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights.
“Up to two-thirds of Bangladeshis are involved in agricultural activities in some way, and women make up half of those working in the agricultural sector,” he said, adding that three-quarters of the population reside in vulnerable rural areas.
“The World Bank estimates that Bangladesh may have almost 20 million internal climate migrants by 2050, which corresponds to approximately 12 percent of the total population of Bangladesh or the total population of my own country of origin, Chile,” he warned. .
Finally, Bachelet recalled, during her trip to Dhaka, that “the Rohingya asylum in Bangladesh not only has a negative economic impact, but also an environmental one”, according to the newspaper ‘The Business Post’.
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