The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet visited the Rohingya camps of Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday.  During the visit, the High Commissioner for human rights and her team visited some key services and facilities for Rohingya refugees including registration. Michelle Bachelet also met and talked to refugee women, youth, and religious leaders. Read: UN envoy travels to strife-torn Myanmar for the first time

Acknowledging Bangladesh’s great difficulty in dealing with the Rohingya crisis, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Sunday assured the UN’s continued efforts to realise safe and voluntary return of the Rohingyas to Myanmar. She made the assurance when Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said that protracted stay of the displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh bears the risk of the spread of radicalism, transnational crimes and thus may hamper regional stability. High Commissioner Bachelet, appreciating Bangladesh’s humanitarian gesture towards the Rohingyas, underscored the need for their education through fully operationalizing the learning centers in the camps. Momen urged the High Commissioner to use her good office to effectively engage with Myanmar and repatriate the forcibly displaced Rohingyas to Myanmar. Read: Momen once again clarifies the controversy over his “heaven” remark He recalled that the Government took good care of the displaced Rohigyas during the pandemic by providing vaccines. He urged the UN system, including UNDP, to undertake projects in Rakhine to create a conducive environment for the return of the Rohingyas. He underscored that Bangladesh, as a developing country, strongly promotes the Right to Development. She appreciated Bangladesh’s regular reporting to human rights treaty bodies, and suggested a mechanism for further streamlining this. High Commissioner Bachelet also positively noted the possible upcoming visits of several Special Rapporteurs of the UN to Bangladesh, as well as Bangladesh’s efforts to implement the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations. Bachelet, who is now on a four-day visit, had meetings with the Foreign Minister, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Law Minister Anisul Huq and Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Sunday. They discussed various dimensions of the human rights aspect of Bangladesh. During the meetings, Bangladesh Ministers highlighted the government’s “sincere efforts” to protect and promote human rights of the people. Momen highlighted the government’s achievements in women empowerment, GDP growth despite the pandemic and political stability. He also underscored the fact that, in Bangladesh the media is operating freely, with a large number of television channels and newspapers. Law Minister Huq, during his meeting, briefed the High Commissioner on the progress made on the reviewing of the Digital Security Act (DSA), an area on which both sides are working together, underscoring that the DSA was enacted to combat cybercrimes. Read: Bachelet didn’t express any concern over Bangladesh situation: Law Minister Noting that Bangladesh is working towards establishing a social order where human rights are guaranteed, he underscored the need for further international support for human rights training. Home Minister Asaduzzaman depicted how Bangladesh suffered from political violence and terrorism in past, and how the government has ensured safety and security combating all these challenges. Both sides also appreciated the professional performances of Bangladeshi peacekeepers, including female peacekeepers. The Home Minister, in response to the High Commissioner’s query, elaborated the government’s “sincere efforts” to fully implement the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord. He also highlighted the prevailing religious harmony in the country, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Education Minister Dipu Moni briefed High Commissioner Bachelet on the measures undertaken by the government to ensure quality education, including introducing new curriculum, skill development initiatives, stipends for female students and access to education for disabled persons. She also informed about the inclusive measures taken for the third gender people. This is the first ever visit by any UN High Commissioner for Human Rights since the establishment of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights back in 1993.

If any law enforcers picks up someone, they have to be produced before the court within 24 hours, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday. “Those who are observing the ‘EnForced Disappearance Day’ with many information and documents, are doing this centering a purpose. But the law enforcement agencies, who picked up someone from any place, produced them before the court within 24 hours,” he said. Asaduzzaman came up with the remark while talking to reporters after meeting with visiting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet at State guesthouse Padma on Sunday afternoon. Also read: No enforced disappearance, no restrictions on freedom: Momen tells Bachelet Law Minister Anisul Huq and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen also met Bachelet separately. Earlier, Bachelet discussed the issues of forced disappearances, freedom of media, human rights and others. Talking about the victims of enforced disappearances, Asaduzzaman, said allegations of sabotage activities were brought against some of them while many of them were disturbed for family feud and many of them were in hiding of their own accord. Many of them have been on the run due to lack of success in business, loan defaulters and other reasons, he said adding “If anyone went on disappearance of self then it is difficult to find him/her.” Also read: Bangladesh wants “constructive dialogue” as UN rights chief arrives Sunday Referring to the Myanmar issue, the minister said Myanmar did not keep their word in taking back Rohingyas. “Bachelet said that Myanmar is not in a good position that’s why Rohingyas are reluctant to go to their own country but the UN is working to bring back the Rohingyas,” he said.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has said Myanmar’s future depends on addressing the root causes of the crisis with immediate cessation of the systemic discrimination. “Its people deserve a return to democracy, an end to impunity and the immediate cessation of the systemic discrimination that has persecuted minorities – in particular the Rohingya - for decades,” she said on Tuesday in Geneva. While giving update at the 50th session of the Human Rights Council on Myanmar, Bachelet also called for continued support to the efforts underway to pursue accountability for the ongoing and past serious human rights violations, as well as alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, through all available tracks. She urged all Member States, particularly those with the highest-level access and influence, to intensify their pressure on the military leadership. Read: UN envoy on Myanmar urged to work towards early repatriation of Rohingyas “Available measures include placing increased restrictions targeting military-controlled financial holdings and business interests, and limiting their access to foreign currencies to restrict their ability to purchase military equipment and supplies,” Bachelet said. In Rakhine State, she said, the situation is critical, with the Arakan Army and Tatmadaw seemingly on the verge of renewing armed conflict. Since last November, there have been regular ripples of violence between the two parties and public verbal exchanges have been increasingly hostile. “Members of the Rohingya Muslim community are caught in the middle,” ,” Bachelet said, adding that there have been no concrete and systematic efforts to work with the Rohingya to solve the longstanding human rights abuses, discrimination and exclusionary practices that have plagued their communities for decades. Added to this, she said, conditions in Rakhine State remain far from adequate for Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh, or for those who have been living in internal displacement camps in Myanmar for 10 years now, to return to their homes. Instead, the military has continued to use hostile and derogatory language to threaten and marginalize the Rohingya and to implement strict discriminatory limitations on their movement. Read: Mandate of UN peacekeeping mission in Mali should be extended, Security Council hears In the past weeks, Bachelet said, over 300 Rohingya have been arrested for traveling, what they call, ‘illegally’ outside their communities. “Hundreds have been prosecuted and sentenced to prison terms up to two years for exercising their basic right to freedom of movement.” On 21 May, she said, another boat capsized near the coast of Pathein township, just south of Rakhine State, resulting in at least 17 deaths, many of whom were children. UNHCR has reported that since the beginning of the year, at least 630 Rohingya have attempted desperate sea journeys to escape violence, the vast majority women and children, Bachelet said. Since her last update to this Council in February this year, the human rights situation in Myanmar has continued to rapidly decline. Still suffering from the devastating consequences of the February 2021 military coup, the people of Myanmar remain trapped in a cycle of poverty and displacement, human rights violations and abuses. Since February 2021, at least 1,900 killings by the military have been reported. The humanitarian situation is dire. One million individuals have been registered by the UN as internally displaced while some 14 million remain in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The military coup has crippled Myanmar’s economy, with millions losing their jobs or sources of income in the last year. The value of the national currency has plummeted, and prices of essential goods have surged. Despite the commitments made by the military to ASEAN, she said, senseless violence in Myanmar has intensified, with scant provision for civilian protection or respect for international human rights and humanitarian laws by the military.