UN rights expert on Myanmar makes first visit to Rohingya camps in Bangladesh

The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar started his first visit to Bangladesh on Monday and said he looks forward to meeting Rohingya that have been forced to flee their homes.

“The world must not forget the roughly one million Rohingya from Myanmar forced to run for their lives from the military’s genocidal attack against them,” said Tom Andrews in a statement.

“The Rohingya want nothing more than to return to their homes in Myanmar when conditions allow for their safe, dignified, and sustainable return.”

Andrew's Dec. 13-19 visit covers Dhaka, the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, and the island of Bhasan Char, where many Rohingya have been relocated.

He said he will meet representatives of the Bangladeshi government, UN officials, representatives of civil society organizations, and, “most importantly,” members of the Rohingya community.

“While the Myanmar junta continues to systematically violate the people of Myanmar’s human rights, it is critical that the global community support those who have been forced to flee their homes in Myanmar for Bangladesh,” Andrews noted.

The UN expert expressed gratitude to the Bangladesh government for assisting in the visit.

“I look forward to meeting with Rohingya, to listen to them, lend support, and work together with them towards sustainable long-term solutions and pursuing accountability for the atrocities the military committed against them in Myanmar,” Andrews said.

Bangladesh is now home to more than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees, most of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in their home country of Myanmar in August 2017.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed while more than 34,000 were thrown into fires, over 114,000 beaten, and as many as 18,000 Rohingya women and girls raped, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency.

The special rapporteur’s findings will form part of an update presented to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2022, said the council.