Arakan News Agency
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has concluded his first visit to Myanmar by appealing for inclusive and sustainable solutions to the problems of displacement and statelessness. Some 100,000 people in Kachin State and 120,000 people in Arakan State have remained displaced for more than five years following the eruption of inter-communal conflict between Buddhists and minority Muslim Rohingya.
During his visit, Mr Grandi travelled to Yangon, Naypyitaw as well as Sittwe and Maungdaw in Arakan state and met with displaced persons.
“A crucial first step is to pursue freedom of movement and access to services and livelihoods for all. Accelerated pathways to citizenship are also part of the solution, as are efforts to tackle exclusion and poverty,” Mr. Grandi said, alluding to the country’s denial of citizenship for the Rohingya.
He met with Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi; the Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Dr Min Myat Aye; the Minister of Labour, Immigration and Population, U Thein Swe; and the Minister of Border Affairs, Lt. Gen Ye Aung.
“I was very happy to hear the State Counsellor saying that refugees are welcome back from Thailand,” said the High Commissioner in a statement released by his office on 6th July.
He highlighted that the recommendations of the ex-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission of Arakan State provide an important roadmap for the way forward. The recommendations included closing the IDP camps and the return of refugees from Bangladesh.
