Rohingya
China will remain engaged in Bangladesh’s next stage of development journey: Momen
Newly appointed Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has conveyed to Bangladesh that his country will “remain engaged” in Bangladesh’s development journey to the next level, noting Bangladesh’s “remarkable” economic progress over the years.
“Our discussion was very useful and fruitful. Good news is that China has expressed its willingness to remain engaged with Bangladesh in our development journey. They want to work with us as a partner,” Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said today (January 10, 2023).
Talking to reporters after attending a discussion, marking the historic Homecoming Day of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Momen said he and his Chinese counterpart discussed the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, including disruptions in the supply chain and economic fallout.
“… We need to work together to overcome the current situation (due to the Ukraine war),” Momen said.
Read More: Bangladesh reassures Chinese FM of one-China policy, seeks better trade relations
TRADE RELATIONS
The foreign minister said he raised the huge trade gap issue with China as Bangladesh imports goods worth US$ 13 billion against exports worth less than US$ 800 million.
He said though there was a decision of duty-free and quota-free facilities for 98 percent of Bangladeshi products, it has not been fully implemented yet due to the absence of a gazette notification.
Businesses are yet to take advantage of the duty-free and quota-free facilities in the Chinese market, the minister said, seeking steps from the Chinese side.
Read more: New Chinese foreign minister makes brief stopover at Dhaka airport
ROHINGYA ISSUE
Regarding the Rohingya issue, Momen said the Chinese side sees some problems in Myanmar that are delaying the repatriation of the Rohingyas. “But he (Chinese foreign minister) remains hopeful.”
Momen said if the Rohingya issue remains unresolved, there is a possibility that they could become “radicalised”. “These people are stateless. Their future is uncertain. For that reason, they could succumb to extremism and terrorism,” he added.
The Bangladeshi foreign Minister sought special measures from the Chinese side so that the problem could be resolved as soon as possible.
“At least the process should start. He agreed,” Momen told reporters referring to his conversation with the Chinese foreign minister.
Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char and not a single Rohingya has been repatriated since August, 2017.
Read More: New Chinese envoy presents credentials to President Hamid
In August 2017, a deadly crackdown by Myanmar army on Rohingya Muslims sent hundreds of thousands fleeing across the border into Bangladesh.
Bangladesh also conveyed to China that it maintains a balanced foreign policy with all countries while reassuring Dhaka’s support to Beijing.
“We believe in the One-China principle. We maintain a balanced foreign policy. This is our principle. We will extend our support (to China) from time to time,” Momen told reporters at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport early Tuesday as conveyed to his Chinese counterpart who had a brief stopover there.
Momen received his Chinese counterpart upon his arrival at around 1:58am, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told UNB.
Read More: Bangladesh 'pearl of Bay of Bengal, important country in South Asia': New Chinese envoy
The two Foreign Ministers had a brief meeting at the VIP Lounge of the airport and discussed issues of mutual interest.
Momen described the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Bangladesh in 2016 as a milestone but mentioned that many decisions in terms of investment are yet to be implemented.
The foreign minister of Bangladesh also mentioned China’s involvement in a number of important development projects including the rail link of Padma Bridge.
He also thanked the Chinese government for its support to Bangladesh during Covid-19 pandemic.
The Chinese foreign minister invited Momen to visit Beijing at a mutually convenient time.
Read More: Outgoing Chinese Ambassador Li Jiming hopes Rohingya repatriation will start next year
In reply, Momen also invited his Chinese counterpart to come again for a longer stay.
Foreign Minister Momen saw off his Chinese counterpart at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 2:50 am on Tuesday.
Earlier, Momen told UNB that it was not an official visit to Bangladesh, but the Chinese foreign minister would make a stopover here on his way to another destination.
Qin Gang, who until recently was ambassador to the US, has started his term with a weeklong trip to five African countries.
To “deepen the China-Africa comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership”, Qin Gang will visit Ethiopia, Gabon, Angola, Benin, Egypt, the African Union Headquarters and the League of Arab States Headquarters upon invitation, from January 9 to 16, 2023, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily media briefing on Monday.
Read More: No good news yet from Chinese side on Rohingya repatriation: Momen
6 Rohingya robbers detained with foreign arms in Cox’s Bazar
Members of Coast Guard (CG) detained six Rohingya robbers with 14 foreign arms, 486 rounds of bullets and 20,000 pieces of Yaba pills from the estuary of Naf River and Bay of Bengal on Tuesday.
Lieutenant Commandant Md Mohiuddin of the CG Teknaf station, at a press conference, said acting on a tip-off, they came to know that a group of the Rohingya robbers was taking preparations for committing robbery in the estuary of the Naf River and Bay of Bengal.
Read more: 4 members of a gang of robbers arrested
A team of the CG conducted a drive in the estuary and detained the Rohingya robbers with the arms, he said.
With information revealed from the detainees another drive was also conducted at Kharer Island and several other arms and drugs were recovered, the CG officer said.
In the primary interrogation, the detainees admitted that they had been involved with the robbery for a long time, he said, adding that they were residents of Ukhia and Teknaf camps.
Read more: 9 ‘robbers’ arrested in Gazipur
The Rohingyas set up a den at the isolated Kharer Island to carry out criminal activities smoothly to dodge the eyes of law enforcers, he added.
More Rohingya refugees reach Indonesia after weeks at sea
A second group in two days of weak and exhausted Rohingya Muslims landed on a beach in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh on Monday after weeks at sea, officials said.
At least 185 men, women and children disembarked from a rickety wooden boat at dusk on Ujong Pie beach at Muara Tiga, a coastal village in Aceh’s Pidie district, said local police chief Fauzi, who goes by a single name.
“They are very weak because of dehydration and exhaustion after weeks at sea,” Fauzi said.
A distressing video circulated widely in social media showed the 185 dehydrated and exhausted Rohingya, crumpled weakly and emaciated, many crying for help.
READ: Urgently rescue boat carrying upto 200 Rohingyas: ASEAN parliamentarians urge member states, others
The 83 men, 70 women and 32 children were transferred by military trucks to a school just before midnight on Monday from a village hall where they previously received help from residents, health workers and others.
One of the refugees who spoke some Malay and identified himself as Rosyid, told The Associated Press that they left a camp in Bangladesh at the end of November and drifted on the open sea. He said at least “20 of us died aboard due to high waves and sick, and their bodies were thrown into the sea.”
Chris Lewa, the director of the Arakan Project, which works in support of Myanmar’s Rohingya, confirmed on Tuesday that the boat that landed on Ujong Pie beach on Monday was from the group of 190 Rohingya who were reported by United Nations to be drifting in a small boat in the Andaman Sea for a month.
She told AP by email that the arrivals were among four groups of Rohingya refugees that had left Cox’s Bazar district in Bangladesh late November by smaller boats to avoid detection by local coast guards before they were transferred onto four larger boats for their respective journeys.
A Vietnamese oil ship rescued one of the boats with more than 150 people onboard off the coast of Myanmar on Dec. 8, but then towed it to shore after provide them with food and water, Lewa said.
In Dec. 18, the second boat, carrying 104 people, was rescued by the Sri Lankan navy. Lewa said the captain of that boat last week sent a message to his relative who lives at one of the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar that the third boat may have sunk because he had received an “SOS call” from the third boat’s captain which was about to sink and asking him to transfer the passengers on his boat, but he refused as his overcrowded boat already had an engine problem and he feared that to transfer them would result in everyone sinking.
READ: Vulnerable Rohingyas: US to consider resettlement recommendations from UNHCR
The fourth boat “finally landed in northern part of Aceh, Indonesia, in late afternoon on Monday,” Lewa said, after weeks of her organization pleading with south and southeast Asian countries to help.
The UNHCR on Friday urged countries to rescue the refugees, saying reports indicated they were in dire condition with insufficient food or water.
“Many are women and children, with reports of up to 20 people dying on the unseaworthy vessel during the journey,” the agency said.
Also in Christmas Day, another group of 58 Rohingya — all male, including 13 minors — arrived in Ladong village in Aceh Besar district.
Azharul Husna, who heads the Aceh branch of KontraS, an Indonesian rights group, said Monday that the men in the group all carried UNHCR cards from refugee camps in Bangladesh and had left in search of a better life in Malaysia.
Citing one of them, Husna said the 58 refugees left Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, where more than 700,000 Rohingya from Myanmar had fled in 2017, to work on plantations in Malaysia. Their boat was damaged and the engine failed, leaving them drifting at sea until they came ashore in Aceh.
Myanmar security forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings and burning of thousands of homes belonging to Rohingya, sending them fleeing to Bangladesh and onward.
Malaysia has been a common destination for many of the refugees arriving by boat, but they also have been detained in the country.
Although neighboring Indonesia is not a signatory to the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention, the UNHCR said that a 2016 presidential regulation provides a legal framework governing the treatment of refugees on boats in distress near Indonesia and helps them disembark.
58 weak Rohingya land on Indonesian beach after weeks at sea
Dozens of hungry and weak Rohingya Muslims were found on a beach in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh on Sunday after weeks at sea, officials said.
The group of 58 men arrived on Indrapatra beach at Ladong, a fishing village in Aceh Besar district, early Sunday, said local police chief Rolly Yuiza Away. Villagers who saw the group of ethnic Rohingya on a rickety wooden boat helped them to land and then reported their arrival to authorities, he said.
“They look very weak from hunger and dehydration. Some of them are sick after a long and severe voyage at sea,” said Away, adding that the men received food and water from villagers and others as they waited for further instructions from immigration and local officials in Aceh.
Read more: Urgently rescue boat carrying upto 200 Rohingyas: ASEAN parliamentarians urge member states, others
At least three of the men were rushed to a health clinic for medical care, and others are also receiving various medical treatments, Away said.
The United Nations and other groups on Friday urged countries in South Asia to rescue as many as 190 people believed to be Rohingya refugees aboard a small boat that has been adrift for several weeks in the Andaman Sea.
“Reports indicate those onboard have now remained at sea for a month in dire conditions with insufficient food or water, without any efforts by States in the region to help save human lives,” the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, said in a statement. “Many are women and children, with reports of up to 20 people dying on the unseaworthy vessel during the journey.”
Away said it wasn’t clear where the group was traveling from or if they were part of the group of 190 Rohingya refugees that has been adrift in the Andaman Sea. But one of the men who spoke some Malay said they had been at sea for more than a month and had aimed to land in Malaysia to seek a better life and work there.
More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh since August 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a clearance operation in response to attacks by a rebel group. Myanmar security forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings and the burning of thousands of homes.
Groups of Rohingya have attempted to leave the crowded camps in Bangladesh and travel by sea in hazardous voyages to other Muslim-majority countries in the region.
Read more: Very limited spaces offered for Rohingya resettlement: UNHCR
Muslim-dominated Malaysia has been a common destination for the boats, and traffickers have promised the refugees a better life there. But many Rohingya refugees who land in Malaysia face detention.
Although Indonesia is not a signatory to the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention, the UNHCR said that a 2016 presidential regulation provides a national legal framework governing the treatment of refugees on boats in distress near Indonesia and to help them disembark.
These provisions have been implemented for years, most recently last month when about 219 Rohingya refugees, including 63 women and 40 children, were rescued off the coast of North Aceh district aboard two rickety boats.
“We urge the government of Indonesia to rescue the boats and allow them to safely disembark," Amnesty International Indonesia's executive director Usman Hamid said. “We also urge the Indonesian government to lead a regional initiative to resolve the refugee crisis.”
On Thursday, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, urged governments in South and Southeast Asia “to immediately and urgently coordinate search and rescue for this boat and ensure safe disembarkation of those aboard before any further loss of life occurs.”
“While many in the world are preparing to enjoy a holiday season and ring in a new year, boats bearing desperate Rohingya men, women and young children, are setting off on perilous journeys in unseaworthy vessels,” Andrews said in a statement.
UN Security Council adopts first-ever resolution on Myanmar; China, Russia and India abstain from voting
The United Nations Security Council has adopted its first-ever resolution on “situation in Myanmar”, placing an important focus on the Rohingya crisis and its sustainable solution.
Referring to the ongoing political unrest in Myanmar, continuous deterioration of its democratic institutions and arbitrary detention of political leaders, the resolution, among others, urges for ending violence and inclusive political dialogue.
As the penholder of the Myanmar situation in the Security Council, the United Kingdom tabled the resolution which was adopted by 12 votes in favour.
While no members of the Security Council voted against or used veto power to block its adoption, China, Russia and India abstained from voting, according to the Bangladesh Permanent Mission in New York.
Read More: US diplomat for ‘comprehensive approach’ to deal with Rohingya crisis
In the context of multifaceted global challenges including Russia-Ukraine conflict, the resolution is a demonstration of the UN’s supreme body’s determination towards resolving the ongoing crisis in Myanmar.
This resolution will further renew the attention of the global community towards the Rohingya crisis.
Since the exodus of Rohingyas in Bangladesh in 2017, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the position of Bangladesh clear to the international community — that they must return to their homeland in Myanmar from their temporary shelter in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is now hosting more than 1.2 million Rohingyas out of humanitarian consideration.
Read more: Rights group urges UN Security Council to impose binding arms embargo on Myanmar
The resolution commends Bangladesh’s efforts for hosting and providing humanitarian support to the Rohingyas.
It also recognizes the implications of the current political situation in Myanmar on the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingyas to Myanmar and on regional security.
It underscores the need to address the root causes of the crisis in Rakhine State, and to create conditions necessary for the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees.
The resolution also puts significant focus on ASEAN's role in implementing its Five Point Consensus agreed on in 2021.
Read More: Requested US, UK, Japan to take Rohingyas from Bangladesh: FM
As an immediate action, the resolution requests the UN Secretary-General and his Special Envoy on Myanmar to submit a report, on the possible support from UN on the implementation of ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus, by March 15, 2023 to the Security Council.
The adoption of the resolution will serve as a first step to the regular discussion of the Security Council on Myanmar.
It will also strengthen Bangladesh’s ongoing efforts towards sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis.
Bangladesh Permanent Mission in New York made "significant contribution" to the negotiations of the resolution, Bangladesh said.
Read more: UN adopts resolution on human rights of Rohingya, other minorities in Myanmar
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York, Muhammad Abdul Muhith, held several bilateral meetings with the strategically important members of the Security Council and ensured that issues specific to Bangladesh’s interest were included in the resolution.
This resolution bears the testimony of Bangladesh’s milestone success in multilateral efforts to resolve the Rohingya crisis.
Urgently rescue boat carrying upto 200 Rohingyas: ASEAN parliamentarians urge member states, others
Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia have urged ASEAN member states and other countries in the region to urgently rescue a boat carrying up to 200 Rohingya refugees, including women and children, which has reportedly been adrift off the coasts of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and India for weeks.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the boat has been adrift in high seas since late November, and dozens on board have already died during the journey, while survivors have no access to food, drinking water or medication.
“We urgently call on ASEAN member states and other countries in the region to fulfill their humanitarian obligations and launch search and rescue operations for the boat if it enters their waters, and to allow for the proper disembarkation of the refugees. It is disgraceful that a boat filled with men, women, and children in grave danger has been allowed to remain adrift. Neglecting the people on the boat is nothing short of an affront to humanity,” said Eva Sundari, Board Member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), and former member of the Indonesian House of Representatives.
According to media reports and information from human rights organizations, two other boats carrying Rohingya refugees have been adrift in the past weeks.
One, carrying 154 refugees, was rescued by a Vietnamese oil service vessel on December 8. They were handed over to the Myanmar navy.
Read More: https://unb.com.bd/category/Bangladesh/very-limited-spaces-offered-for-rohingya-resettlement-unhcr/106307
Another, carrying 104 refugees, was rescued by the Sri Lanka navy on December 18 and disembarked at Kankesanturai Harbor.
The Rohingyas have been suffering persecution in their country of origin, Myanmar, for decades.
The overwhelming majority of them were rendered stateless in the early 1990s by the authorities, and have suffered the most serious human rights violations since at least the late seventies.
In 2016 and 2017 they were the target of brutal military operations, displacing over 730,000 to neighbouring Bangladesh and for which the Myanmar army has been accused of genocide.
In these desperate conditions, many of them put themselves at the hands of unscrupulous human smugglers to seek a better life in countries like Malaysia, in extremely dangerous journeys through the Andaman Sea.
“In all likelihood, the delay in rescuing these boats has already caused untold suffering and loss of life. Any further delay is unconscionable. This neglect of Rohingya refugees stranded in the sea is nothing new, as it has been going on for years, and has resulted in hundreds, if not thousands, of deaths that could have been easily been prevented if the countries in the region fulfilled the most elementary humanitarian principles,” said Charles Santiago, Chairperson of APHR, and former member of Parliament from Malaysia.
Read More: 16 Rohingya including children and women detained in Sreemangal
APHR urged ASEAN to devise a comprehensive and coordinated regional response to the issue of refugees stranded at sea, in order to act effectively, and according to humanitarian principles, in such situations, as saving lives at sea must be a collective effort.
But ASEAN should also address the root causes of the tragedy that befell the Rohingya for so many years, including putting pressure on the Myanmar authorities to restore their citizenship, and receiving the refugees currently living in camps in Bangladesh, APHR said on Tuesday.
ASEAN should also help to hold the perpetrators of atrocities against the Rohingya people accountable, especially now that the army that launched the genocidal military operations against them in 2016 and 2017 has thrown Myanmar into chaos since staging an illegal coup d’état on February 1, 2021.
“ASEAN and the international community at large have stood idly for too long as the Rohingya tragedy unfolded over the years. Those countries who claim to defend human rights have a moral obligation to address the root causes of the human rights crisis afflicting the Rohingya, or these humanitarian tragedies will only repeat again and again. ASEAN member states, as well as their partners in the region and beyond, must ensure that Myanmar restore the rights of the Rohingya people, end all discriminatory practices and holds those responsible for crimes against humanity to account,” said Kasit Piromya, APHR Board Member and former Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs.
16 Rohingya including children and women detained in Sreemangal
Police detained 16 Rohingya including women and children from Sreemangal Sunday as they were on their way to Moulvibazar from Cox’s Bazar refugee camp.
Sreemangal police detained them during a drive from an Ena Paribahan bus from Cox’s Bazar, said Jahangir Hossain Sardar, Officer-in-Charge of Sreemangal police station.
An inspector of district police traveling on the same bus suspected some passengers being Rohingya refugees and informed the matter to Sreemangal police station, he said.
In primary questioning , they said that they had fled from the Rohingya camp at Kutupalong, in Cox’s Bazar, said OC Jahangir.
They will be sent back to their camp, he said.
Read more: Committee formed to discourage Rohingyas from using Myanmar mobile network: Home Minister
Committee formed to discourage Rohingyas from using Myanmar mobile network: Home Minister
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan today said the government has been monitoring the use of Myanmar mobile network in Rohingya refugee camps and had formed a committee to discourage it.
“The committee will soon find a solution and make arrangements so that Rohingyas can use Bangladeshi network,” he said to media after attending the sixth meeting of the national committee on coordination, management and law and order of forcefully displaced Myanmar citizens at the Secretariat on Sunday.
Read: There was no lack of security during US ambassador’s Shaheenbagh visit: Home Minister
“We have discussed in detail about the arrangement to let Rohingya refugees enter our network. The Bangladesh Army has almost completed building a security fence, patrol road, and watch tower around the refugee camp. Ninety-five to 99 percent of the work is already complete,” he said.
He said according to the recent report, 65% of Rohingya population has been brought under birth control campaign.
The government is giving its all-out effort for Rohingya repatriation and hopefully a solution will be reached soon, said Asaduzzaman.
When asked how many Rohingyas the US wants to take from Bangladesh, the minister said they are taking the Rohingyas by providing visas themselves.
Read: No rally to be allowed on streets: Home Minister
“Three years ago the United Nations representative for the Netherlands had shown interest in taking Rohingyas to me but I got to know that the country only took seven of them and Australia took 24. The number is quite poor and I don’t want to bring people’s attention to that,” he said.
However, the US informed Bangladesh in detail about how many Rohingyas they want to take and how.
More Rohingya female teachers need training for increasing literacy among their community
Development of children from Rohingya and host communities is facing several challenges and integrated efforts and mechanism are required to ensure their holistic development, so that they can grow up becoming skilled individuals, said experts during a learning sharing workshop.
The workshop was organized recently by the international development organisation Plan International Bangladesh under the “Providing Early Childhood and Basic Education for Rohingya and Host Community Children”, project, with the support of UNICEF.
Addressing the event as the Chief Guest, Syed Mamunul Alam, Director General of the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), said, to ensure repatriation of the Rohingya community, language skill development can be an instrumental mechanism.
Read more: Cases filed against 78 people over Rohingya deaths in 'gunfight'
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Refugee, Relief, and Repatriation Commissioner, RRRC, Cox’s Bazar said, Education plays key role to improve the lives of Rohingya people living in the camps.
Bangladesh Government is prioritizing their education through its works and agenda, he said adding developing skilled Rohingya woman as teachers can be a crucial intervention.
For the first time ever, with the support of UNICEF, Plan International Bangladesh has implemented integrated Early Childhood Development (i-ECD) centre (Shishu Bikash Kendra) at Rohingya camps and host communities.
To ensure joyful environment for children under five years old and to prepare them for the primary schooling, the organization is running 60 i-SBK centres in the camps and host communities (Camp 1 East, Camp 1 West, 3, 6, and 7, and Host community in Rajapalong union).
Very limited spaces offered for Rohingya resettlement: UNHCR
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has welcomed and greatly appreciated the announcement by the United States to increase the number of resettlement places for Rohingya refugees.
However, there are very limited spaces offered for resettlement, and these are dependent on many factors, UNHCR said.
"Any resettlement will have to be part of a comprehensive approach with the main focus to remain on preparing the Rohingya for voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return," said Mostafa Mohammad Sazzad Hossain, spokesperson at UNHCR office in Dhaka on Sunday.
At the same time, he said, they need to work towards improving refugees’ resilience while living in the camps and investing in their self-reliance to make them less dependent of humanitarian assistance.
Read more: UNHCR seeks more support from international community for Rohingyas
Responding to a question, he said resettlement may be considered an option for refugees living in extremely vulnerable conditions and who, for various reasons, are unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin.
The primary solution preferred by a large majority of Rohingya refugees is a dignified, safe, voluntary, and sustainable return, once conditions in Myanmar are conducive for such return, said the UN Refugee Agency.
UNHCR’s ROLE:
Resettlement is conducted according to precise criteria established by resettlement countries.
Once a country establishes the criteria for resettlement, UNHCR can provide support.
Resettlement is mostly reserved for extremely vulnerable cases.
It is not a visa process, meaning refugees cannot apply for resettlement.
Read more: Take care of Rohingyas like Bangladesh: UNHCR to regional countries
Extremely vulnerable cases identified through registration or protection activities, which meet pre-established criteria by the resettlement country, may be considered for resettlement.
The final decision on the resettlement of each refugee is made by the resettlement country.