Arakan News Agency
The UN High-Level Conference on the Rohingya and Other Minorities in Myanmar kicks off today, Tuesday, in New York, with the aim of exploring ways to resolve the protracted Rohingya crisis.
The conference is scheduled to comprehensively review the crisis and exchange views on the situation on the ground, with the goal of proposing a comprehensive, innovative, concrete, and time-bound plan for a sustainable solution to the crisis, including the voluntary, safe, and dignified return of the Rohingya to Myanmar.
Through the conference, international powers and organizations seek to mobilize political support and international attention for the crisis, address its root causes, including human rights issues, and create an environment conducive to the voluntary, safe, sustainable, and dignified return of the Rohingya to Myanmar at the appropriate time.
The conference is being held on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, with the attendance of international, diplomatic, and human rights delegations. The Rohingya remain divided between hope and anticipation over the outcomes of this unique conference, hoping it will bring an end to a decades-long crisis. Hundreds of Rohingya refugees gathered in Bangladeshi camps a few days ago to issue an urgent appeal to the United Nations and the international community for justice and recognition of their rights.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has confirmed that as the conference approaches, Rohingya voices remain largely underrepresented. Amnesty International has warned that implementing plans for the return of Rohingya to Arakan at this time could be disastrous, given the deteriorating security and humanitarian conditions in Arakan, as well as the discrimination and intimidation perpetrated against the Rohingya by the Arakan Buddhist militias (Arakan Army), which controls the state.
Bangladesh hosts more than a million Rohingya refugees in the Cox’s Bazar camps, which the United Nations classifies as the largest refugee camp in the world. The refugees have been living there in difficult humanitarian conditions since fleeing Myanmar in 2017, due to the “genocidal” campaign launched by the Myanmar military against them. Waves of displacement to Bangladesh have renewed since the outbreak of fighting in Arakan state between the Myanmar military and the Arakan militias in November 2023.
