Bangladesh holds international conference on Rohingya: Here’s what to know

Bangladesh is holding a two-day league successful Cox’s Bazar connected the persecuted Rohingya assemblage earlier a high-level league connected the Rohingya exile situation successful September connected the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

The meeting, organised by Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, comes 8 years aft much than a cardinal Rohingya, galore of whom are present stateless, were forced to fly Myanmar and instrumentality structure successful Bangladesh. They fled a Myanmar subject crackdown that killed thousands of Rohingya and has been described arsenic a warfare transgression and genocide.

“Since 2017, Rohingyas person had nary nonstop dialog with planetary bodies, the Bangladeshi government, section communities oregon Myanmar,” said Kamal Hossain, president of the Forcefully Displaced Myanmar National Representative Committee, a Rohingya advocacy group. “This league is seen arsenic a measurement toward solutions.”

Who is attending?

Khalilur Rahman, precocious typical for the Rohingya contented and nationalist information advisor of Bangladesh, opened the league connected Sunday.

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, person of Bangladesh’s interim government, is expected to be the meeting, aimed astatine helping 1 of the world’s astir marginalised groups of people.

Other delegates volition see overseas ministers, planetary envoys, UN bureau representatives and officials from Bangladesh’s overseas missions.

A delegation led by Rahman volition besides sojourn the Rohingya exile camps – the largest successful the satellite – to talk to the residents, who person progressively been facing shortages of nutrient and medicine.

The league is being held arsenic the Rohingya refugees successful Cox’s Bazar person been impacted by assistance cuts arsenic astir of the 1.5 cardinal radical trust connected handouts.

“Since the opening of this year, nutrient rations person been chopped from $12 a period to $8 a period to $6 a month, fundamentally half, and astatine that level, they can’t spend immoderate fish, chicken. It’s fundamentally conscionable pulses and rice,” Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng said, reporting from Cox’s Bazar.

He said Yunus has called for the league truthful Rohingya are “not forgotten”.

“He hopes that they will, implicit the people of the adjacent mates of days, find immoderate existent solutions to what happens to the Rohingya, and they [the Rohingya] don’t stay present successful these camps forgotten to the remainder of the world,” Cheng said.

What’s the value of the conference?

For Nay San Lwin, cochairman of the Arakan Rohingya National Council, “this is the archetypal clip successful 8 years that the Rohingya volition person the accidental to beryllium heard.”

“The value of this league is that the voices expressed present volition beryllium carried guardant to the UN High-Level Conference connected the Rohingya and different taste minorities, which volition instrumentality spot successful New York connected September 30,” helium said.

Nay San Lwin besides told Al Jazeera: “There volition perchance beryllium different 1 [UN meeting] successful Qatar successful December. Since these meetings are being held astatine a precise precocious level, we anticipation they volition astatine slightest effect successful a solution for the Rohingya.”

“I judge these processes tin pb toward a imperishable solution for the Rohingya,” helium added. “Our eventual extremity remains to instrumentality to our homeland successful Myanmar with afloat rights, dignity and protection.”

What has the UN said astir the Rohingya recently?

Before Sunday and Monday’s meeting, the UN called for citizenship, equality and information for Myanmar’s Rohingya minority.

The mostly Muslim Rohingya person been persecuted successful Myanmar for decades. Of the estimated 3.5 cardinal Rohingya worldwide, it is estimated 90 percent unrecorded arsenic refugees and undocumented migrants.

“As we adjacent the passing of different twelvemonth with nary justness for the unit which started connected August 25, 2017, successful Myanmar, we are near to inquire the question of erstwhile the enduring misery for these and ongoing crimes volition end, peculiarly for the long-suffering Rohingya community,” UN quality rights bureau spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said.

“Ending impunity and ensuring the Rohingya’s rights to security, citizenship and equality are indispensable for breaking the rhythm of violence,” helium said astatine a quality briefing successful Geneva.

Has the concern changed recently?

Laurence said the quality rights and humanitarian concern successful Myanmar’s Rakhine State has sharply deteriorated since November 2023, deepening the life-threatening conditions faced by the Rohingya inactive surviving there.

The impoverished authorities – a portion of coastal Myanmar bordering Bangladesh – witnessed aggravated suffering during the latest struggle successful Myanmar, triggered by a 2021 coup that deposed a democratically elected authorities and enactment different repressive subject medication successful power.

Both the subject and section taste fighters from the Arakan Army “have committed and proceed to perpetrate superior atrocity crimes against the Rohingya with impunity… successful flagrant usurpation of planetary law,” Laurence said.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk is calling for the planetary assemblage to measurement up enactment for the Rohingya, Laurence added.

But Fatema Khatoon – who fled Myanmar 3 times due to the fact that of subject crackdowns successful 1978, 1992 and again successful 2018 – is not definite of the conference’s outcome.

“I privation to spell location with justice, to get backmost my onshore and property. I privation to spot bid there. It’s been 8 years since I came present for the 3rd time. How overmuch longer indispensable we suffer?” she told Al Jazeera.

Successive assistance cuts person already caused terrible hardship among Rohingya successful the overcrowded settlements, wherever galore trust connected assistance and endure from rampant malnutrition.

Are determination much conferences proposed?

Yes, the president of the UN General Assembly has acceptable September 30 arsenic the day of a league successful New York.