A high-level delegation of US congressional staff, accompanied by officials from the Washington-based multi-country office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and the office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner to discuss developments in the humanitarian crisis and prospects for voluntary and sustainable return to Myanmar.
During the visit, the US delegation met Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman. The two sides reviewed the current situation inside the camps and the scale of the humanitarian response required to address the refugees’ growing needs.
The UNHCR office said the visit reflected continued US interest in and support for the Rohingya issue and underscored the importance of strengthening international cooperation to sustain relief efforts and humanitarian support in Bangladesh.
US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor, during a visit to the Cox’s Bazar camps in early August, called on the international community and partners to increase their financial contributions in support of Rohingya refugees.
Bangladesh hosts around 1.2 million Rohingya living in harsh humanitarian conditions in the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, after fleeing Myanmar following a campaign of violence against them that UN and international reports have described as amounting to “genocide”.
