3 Nobel laureates to visit Rohingya camp

Three Nobel peace prize winners are coming to Bangladesh to assess the first-hand situation of the Rohingya refugees including violence against women.

They are Shirin Ebadi (Iran), Tawakkol Karman (Yemen), and Mairead Maguire (Northern Ireland).

All three women laureates are set to visit the country between 24 February and 2 March, as the latest influx of Rohingya Muslims following persecution in Myanmar began six months ago.

The Nobel Women’s Initiative, in partnership with local organisation, Naripokkho, is organising the visit, said an announcement of the group.

The delegation will visit refugee camps and also meet prime minister Sheikh Hasina, according to the release.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have taken shelter in Bangladesh after fleeing crackdown by Myanmar military in August.

A Human Rights Watch report released in November 2017, documented that Myanmar security forces have committed widespread rape against women and girls as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.