Rohingya Crisis: US to work with partners for solution

The United States will urgently work with its partners across the globe for a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis, apart from providing humanitarian support.

"The US recognises that a long-term refugee population is not an option. We're going to work with equal urgency both to address the humanitarian needs of this population but also to find a lasting resolution," said Stephen Biegun, the US deputy secretary of state.

The statement comes just ahead of a donors' conference being hosted by US, UK, EU and UN Refugee Agency today to mobilise fund. This year less than half of the requested $1 billion for Rohingyas has been received so far.

Dhaka emphasises that mobilsing fund was not enough and seeks Rohingya repatriation at the soonest as Bangladesh has been facing multiple challenges for sheltering nearly a million Rohingyas, including the 750,000 who fled a military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine State in 2017.

No Rohingya returned to Myanmar as of now, while the UN Security Council could not take any concrete actions for opposition from veto powers China and Russia.

China has been seeking bilateral solution to the crisis, but the efforts have not been effective so far.

Meanwhile, The Gambia filed a genocide case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that consequently ordered Myanmar to prevent acts of genocide in Rakhine, but increased conflicts between Myanmar military and Arakan Army caused the situation in Rakhine to worsen.

At a telephonic press conference Tuesday night, on his recent visit to Delhi and Dhaka, Stephen Biegun said the US will work closely with Bangladesh and other countries in the region for lasting solution to the crisis.

"…we hope that we see the same level of generosity and the same level of clarity in messages to the Government of Myanmar from other partners or other nations in the Indo-Pacific, particularly China," he said.

He said China unfortunately has done very little to help resolve the Rohingya issue and for whom much more should be expected, considering the proximity to China of this humanitarian catastrophe.

Beigun said there was an urgent need for Myanmar to guarantee safety and security for the Rohingyas remaining in Rakhine State as well as for creating conducive conditions for Rohingya repatriation.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen warned there would not be any sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis in near future if the emerging culture of defiance, impunity and geopolitical appeasement of Myanmar continues.

Ensuring international justice and accountability for the Rohingya is the cry of the hour under every possible global accountability mechanism, making the Rohingya crisis truly global, he said at a virtual discussion on Rohingya justice co-hosted by high commissions of Bangladesh and Canada in UK and the Commonwealth Secretary-General Tuesday night.

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen highlighted the 13-point demands of the Rohingyas to Myanmar, including amendment to Myanmar's 1982 citizenship act, recognise Rohingyas as an ethnic group and their freedom and rights.

Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Rohingyas in the UK Parliament Rushanara Ali called for UK to join Canada and the Netherlands to intervene in the ICJ case between the Gambia vs Myanmar.

She observed that European Union and its allies should not have prematurely withdrawn the embargos against Myanmar, saying it has given rise to Myanmar' defiance of international justice and accountability mechanisms.

British Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth Lord Ahmad, Canadian High Commissioner to UK Janice Charette, Netherlands Ambassador Karel Van Oosterom, Bangladesh High Commissioner to UK Saida Muna Tasneem and The Gambia Justice Minister's Special Adviser Hussein Thomasi spoke at the discussion, also addressed by rights activists and legal experts.