EU for Rohingyas’ ‘dignified return’ to Myanmar

Rohingya refugees walk on the muddy path after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Teknaf. Reuters file photo
Rohingya refugees walk on the muddy path after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Teknaf. Reuters file photo

The European Union’s commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management has begun a two-day visit to Bangladesh, to assess the ground reality of the Rohingya refugee crisis.

“Here in Bangladesh the scale of this emergency is painfully clear to see: This is the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world,” commissioner Christos Stylianides said in a statement on the first day of his visit on Tuesday.

The visit comes a week after the EU and its member states pledged more than 50 per cent of the US$ 344 million total funding raised at the international conference on the Rohingya refugee crisis held in Geneva.

Commissioner Stylianidesis visited the Kutupalong camp in Coxs Bazar, where an EU-funded project is helping over 100,000 people, mostly vulnerable children and women, gain access to essential services, an EU news release said.

“The Rohingya people are not alone in these difficult times,” he said.

Stylianidesis also commended and supported “the generous approach” of the Bangladeshi authorities to the Rohingya people.

At the same time, he added, the EU “continues to insist on full aid access in Myanmar and is working to address the situation in Northern Rakhine state”.

The EU official recommended that every refugee should be registered properly and that “Myanmar takes all necessary steps to allow them a voluntary and dignified return in secure conditions”.

The commissioner will hold meetings with government officials of Bangladesh and humanitarian partners to discuss the international community's response to the crisis and Bangladesh's needs to move forward, the release said.