Arakan News Agency
Three-members of Myanmar’s “Advisory Commission on Arakan (Rakhine) State” visited two unregistered Rohingya slums in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhia and Teknaf yesterday.
They visited Paschim Balukhali Rohingya slum of Ukhia upazila and Leda slum of Teknaf upazila.
The members spoke directly with the Rohingyas who fled persecution in Myanmar and have been staying in Bangladesh illegally. They also held a closed-door meeting.
The delegation consists of Myanmar National Human Rights Commission Chairman U Win Mra, Core Member and Founder of Religions for Peace in Myanmar U Aye Lwin and former Lebanese minister of culture and UN Special Advisor to Secretary-General Ghassan Salame. They arrived in Cox’s Bazar yesterday.
The delegation is on a visit to know the latest situation of around 65,000 newly-arrived Rohingyas in Bangladesh.
They would hold a meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali upon their return to Dhaka.
The delegation would also hold talks with the representatives of various international organisations. Before leaving Dhaka on February 1, they would join a views-exchange meeting to be organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), said IOM sources.
Sources said the delegation would submit an evaluation report on their Bangladesh visit to the office of Kofi Annan-led Commission.
The Advisory Commission on Arakan State, also known as Rakhine Commission, was formed to find lasting solutions to the complex and delicate issues in the Arakan State.
The nine-member commission is led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. It is composed of six Myanmar citizens and three foreign experts.
The commission will examine international aspects of the situation, and after consultations, it will submit its findings and recommendations to the government of Myanmar through State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in the second half of 2017.
According to UN estimate, some 66,000 newly-arrived Rohingyas took shelter in Cox’s Bazar. Besides, there are about 32,000 Rohingyas living in two refugee camps for over two decades.
Source : The DailyStar
