Annan Commission on Rohingya: Team hopes to submit report by August
After completing its two days' visit to see Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar, the team of Myanmar's “Advisory Commission on Rakhine State” yesterday said they would submit an evaluation report to Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi by August this year.
The three-member team visited three Rohingya slums and a Rohingya registered camp in Ukhia and Teknaf upazilas in the two days.
Former Lebanese minister for culture and UN Special Adviser to Secretary-General Ghassan Salame, who is leading the team, yesterday made the comment while talking to journalists.
Two other members of the delegation are Myanmar National Human Rights Commission Chairman U Win Mra and Core Member and Founder of Religions for Peace in Myanmar U Aye Lwin.
In the report, Salame said they would also make recommendations for focusing on ensuring security, citizenship and the fundamental rights to all permanent citizens of the Rakhine state.
Around 9:30am, the delegation members along with International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Programme Manager Petti Siddique visited Kutupalong Rohingya slum and talked to some Rohingyas, who recently entered Bangladesh from Myanmar.
They then visited Kutupalong registered Rohingya camp.
Around 3:00pm, they held a meeting with Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner Ali Hossain at his office.
The DC told The Daily Star that the commission wanted to know about the condition of registered and unregistered Rohingyas.
Ali said as a representative of the government, he requested the commission to find out a permanent solution to the Rohingya crisis and take them back to Myanmar.
At present, around 33,000 Rohingyas are staying in two registered Rohingya camps in Ukhia and Teknaf upazilas. Besides, 45,000 Rohingyas are now in Leda Rohingya slum, 90,000 in Kutupalong slum, 10,000 in Paschim Balukhali slum and 5,000 in Shaplapur slum of Teknaf.
As per reports of different government agencies, around three lakh other Rohingyas are living in Cox's Bazar, Bandarban, Chittagong and other parts of the country.
Talking to the commission at Kutupalong Rohingya slum, Rafiq Ahmed, 40, of Gouzbil village in the Rakhine state, alleged that the Myanmarese army looted his house before torching it.
Another Rohingya, Nurul Alam, 35, of Hatiyapara village, alleged that the Myanmarese army had killed his two brothers.
Abu Siddique, president of Kutupalong Rohingya slum management committee, said the commission wanted to know in details about the condition of Rohingyas who recently fled from the Rakhine state. They told the commission what they knew.
The Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, also known as the Rakhine Commission, was formed to find lasting solutions to the complex and delicate issues in the Rakhine state.
The nine-member commission is led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. It is comprised of six Myanmar citizens and three foreign experts.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat reached Cox's Bazar yesterday and she is expected to visit Rohingya camps in Ukhia and Teknaf upazilas today.