High-level UNSC fact finding team in Cox's Bazar

The high-level delegation of the UN Security Council has reached Cox's Bazar on Saturday to see for themselves the Rohingyas on the ground which kindles a new hope that it may pave the way for a sustainable solution to the decades-old Rohingya crisis.
The UNSC team sat with Bangladesh officials headed by State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shariar Alam.The Bangladesh team drew attention of the UN delegation that if China gave special attention to the issue, the problem could be solved and sought UN help to convince China in this regard. The UNSC team said it would keep pressure on Myanmar to solve the Rohingya issue.   

The UNSC delegation comprising envoys from five permanent members of the UK and deputy permanent representatives of the US, Russia, France and China  and 10 non-permanent members reached Cox's Bazar Saturday afternoon and talked with the local UN operators who are involved in providing different sorts of support to the Rohingya camps.

"The issues are security, push back of Rohingyas', isolation of Rohingyas' from the local people, drug and examining local and international radical forces activity in the area and international      support for implementing Annan Commission's report by the Myanmar government," a senior official of the Foreign Ministry said.

However, they will visit Rohingya camps and the zero line along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. The  UNSC team will also call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. "The team is here to know the exact situation as they received different statements on the issue, however, to check all these issues in its own way they are here," another official said.

He said the Rohingya plight is a humanitarian issue for Bangladesh but Myanmar addressed it as a 'security issue', on this point, the Russia and China even the India has extended their support to Myanmar. That's why the problem became a serious challenge for the international community.
"This area is the grayest area of the problem and a huge challenge for both Bangladesh and Myanmar and for the world to address it in a simple manner," the official underscored.

Myanmar's newspaper "The Irrawaddy," said, "The international community is rightly focused on humanitarian issues in northern Rakhine State. If the situation is not resolved in the near future, there is a danger that the region will become destabilized, leading to further violence. There is no military solution to the crisis in Rakhine State, we must find political solutions and compromises.

Nor should we lose sight of the activities of the militant group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), or Harakah al-Yaqin. In fact, ARSA initiated the latest violence with attacks on innocent civilians and security forces on August 25, provoking a heavy-handed military response."

"To apprise the international community about Rohingya issue and government's immediate measures, especially humanitarian aid support including medical support provided by the local administration in Cox's Bazar, we are going to sit with them on Sunday and Monday," Foreign Secretary Shahidul Islam told the Daily Observer on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has come under intense pressure since the start of a military campaign in August that has driven some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims over the border into Bangladesh, where refugees have provided consistent testimony of murder and rape by security forces and local mobs. The United Nations described the military operation as ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, which Myanmar denies.

Meanwhile, Rohingya leaders in a Bangladesh refugee camp have drawn up a list of demands they want Myanmar to meet before authorities begin sending back hundreds of thousands in a repatriation process expected to begin next week and last for two years.

"It is observed that the petition is the latest indication of the challenges ahead for Bangladesh and Myanmar as they try to engineer the return of refugees who fear continued military operations in Rakhine State and are dismayed about the prospect of a prolonged stay in "temporary camps" in Myanmar when they go back," according to the Burma Times.

The petition, which is still to be finalised, demanded the Myanmar government publicly announce it is giving Rohingya long-denied citizenship and inclusion on a list of the country's recognized ethnic groups. It asks that land once occupied by the refugees be returned to them and their homes, mosques and schools rebuilt. It wants the military held accountable for alleged killings, looting and rape, and the release from jails of "innocent Rohingya" picked up in counter-insurgency operations.

It also wants Myanmar to stop listing people with their photographs as "terrorists" in state media and on government Facebook pages, the newspaper said. Earlier, the Myanmar state newspapers issued a supplement listing the names and photos of alleged members of the ARSA, whose attacks on security posts on August 25 triggered a sweeping counter-insurgency operation, according to the Burma Times.

Pointing finger at ARSA's fund raising activity the Irrawaddy claimed that most of ARSA's funding comes from Rohingya living in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, with additional support coming from other Middle Eastern countries with small Rohingya communities.
"According to eyewitness accounts from refugee camps in Bangladesh, foreign donors believed to be based in the Middle East and elsewhere are distributing cash to refugees, and ARSA militants roam freely," it reads.

Citing all the issues, at a meeting with Bangladeshi officials in Naypyitaw in February, senior Myanmar police officers presented a list of over 1,000 terrorists believed to be taking refuge in Bangladesh and asked that they be handed over. So far Bangladesh has sent back four alleged Rohingya militants to Myanmar.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement saying the army's claim is contrary to a growing body of evidence to the contrary, and repeating calls for a UN fact-finding mission to be permitted entry to the region.

"The Burmese military's absurd effort to absolve itself of mass atrocities underscores why an independent international investigation is needed to establish the facts and identify those responsible," said HRW Asia Director Brad Adams. "The Burmese authorities have once again shown that they can't and won't credibly investigate themselves." HRW is right to say that the findings lack credibility.

ARSA has connections with foreign extremist groups, Myanmar's neighbours India, China and Thailand, along with several other ASEAN countries, have been assisting Myanmar and its security forces on this issue, as they recognize the danger of terrorist operations and networks, Myanmar claimed.
Bangladesh government and the international rights group categorically said that like any government or armed forces, the Myanmar government and military has a responsibility to defend itself and its people, but innocent civilians must not be targeted.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, told reporters in Yangon on Friday that the Security Council should issue a resolution to refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court or else no one will be held accountable. "The lack of a UN Security Council resolution has left the Myanmar government convinced that it has literally gotten away with mass murder," he said.

He also called for targeted sanctions on perpetrators and an arms embargo. However, the UN delegation will speak to refugees in the Bangladeshi camps before they head to Myanmar early next week to visit conflict-scarred Rakhine state. They will also meet with Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi who has been denounced in the West for her failure to speak up for the Rohingya, a stateless minority that has faced decades of persecution in the largely Buddhist nation.