A Message from Burma Campaign, UK
Dear friend
It's now one year since the pre-planned military offensive against the Rohingya, and more than 1 million Rohingya now live as refugees in Bangladesh. More than half are children. Conditions in the camps are appalling, despite the efforts of UN and international aid agencies, local and international civil society groups, and the Rohingya themselves.
Although the international community uses language about creating conditions for safe return for Rohingya refugees, in practice they do not have the political will to apply the kind of pressure that will be required to help create them.
They talk about pathways to citizenship which would take many years even if the Burmese government were genuine about their implementation rather than using it as a delaying tactic. In reality the political calendar in Burma means that there may only be 12-18 months left where there is a realistic chance of the Rohingya ever receiving citizenship.
They have failed to hold anyone to account for what took place, reinforcing the sense of impunity the military enjoy and encouraging them to believe they can get away with further atrocities.
And having failed to act to prevent the crisis despite warnings, and then failing to take any effective action in response, they haven’t even provided enough aid for the million plus Rohingya in Bangladesh. The UN request for almost $1bn is only 30 funded and looks like it will not even be 50 percent funded by the end of the year.
Ahead of the UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, our new briefing paper, Rohingya Refugees and Safe Return, examines these issues in more detail.
The briefing is attached and also available on our website here:
http://burmacampaign.org.uk/burma_briefing/rohingya-refugees-and-safe-return/
All the best
Anna
Burma Campaign UK
_____________________________________________________________________
It's now one year since the pre-planned military offensive against the Rohingya, and more than 1 million Rohingya now live as refugees in Bangladesh. More than half are children. Conditions in the camps are appalling, despite the efforts of UN and international aid agencies, local and international civil society groups, and the Rohingya themselves.
Although the international community uses language about creating conditions for safe return for Rohingya refugees, in practice they do not have the political will to apply the kind of pressure that will be required to help create them.
They talk about pathways to citizenship which would take many years even if the Burmese government were genuine about their implementation rather than using it as a delaying tactic. In reality the political calendar in Burma means that there may only be 12-18 months left where there is a realistic chance of the Rohingya ever receiving citizenship.
They have failed to hold anyone to account for what took place, reinforcing the sense of impunity the military enjoy and encouraging them to believe they can get away with further atrocities.
And having failed to act to prevent the crisis despite warnings, and then failing to take any effective action in response, they haven’t even provided enough aid for the million plus Rohingya in Bangladesh. The UN request for almost $1bn is only 30 funded and looks like it will not even be 50 percent funded by the end of the year.
Ahead of the UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, our new briefing paper, Rohingya Refugees and Safe Return, examines these issues in more detail.
The briefing is attached and also available on our website here:
http://burmacampaign.org.uk/burma_briefing/rohingya-refugees-and-safe-return/
All the best
Anna
Burma Campaign UK
_____________________________________________________________________
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