<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam has called for robust international efforts to expedite repatriation of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh to their homeland Myanmar.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With its limited resources and inadequate external support Bangladesh has to continue the humanitarian operation until the repatriation process for over one million Rohingyas is complete.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In this context, the State Minister urged the international community to contribute generously to the humanitarian aid fund for them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He made the appeal while addressing the launching of Joint Response Plan (JRP) 2023 for Rohingyas in Geneva on March 7.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The State Minister also requested all humanitarian partners to prioritize sectors covering the basic necessities like food, health, site management and shelter, etc. in their assistance.  </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Recalling that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had opened the borders of Bangladesh to save the lives of Rohingyas back in 2016 and 2017 despite its serious ramification on the economy, environment, security, and socio-political stability of Bangladesh, State Minister Alam briefed the audience of Bangladesh’s numerous efforts, including development of Bhasan Char with its own resources to improve the living standards of the Rohingyas, ensure their education, and skills development opportunities.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mentioning that Bangladesh is the largest donor, spending around 1.69 billion USD last year for the massive humanitarian operations for Rohingyas, ensuring safety and security in and around camps, restoration of the environment, and mitigation of sufferings of the Rohingyas and the host community, State Minister Alam warned that the impasse over commencing return of the Rohingyas to their home country might affect the security and stability of the entire region and jeopardize development initiatives.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Repatriation has been mentioned as the top priority in JRP 2023.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Under JRP 2023 an amount of USD 876 million has been sought and a chapter on Bhasan Char has been added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The State Minister recalled that 62.7% of the pledged amount under JRP 2022 was funded and it was quite challenging to meet the needs of the growing Rohingya population and mitigate the sufferings of the host community in Bangladesh with the received donation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He also said that the Ukraine War and other multiple crises have worsened the funding crisis for Rohingyas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The State Minister expressed concern over the disinformation or biased projection of the government’s efforts to arrange education, skill development initiatives and even improve the security situation for the Rohingyas in Bangladesh.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He also remarked that uncertainty to commence repatriation is often being used as a domestic political tool by opposition parties in Bangladesh, projecting it as a failure of the present government.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The State Minister urged all to check the ground reality prevailing in Bangladesh and talk to the government before relying on those “concocted stories”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Co-sponsored by the UNHCR and IOM, the JRP for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis was attended by ambassadors/permanent representatives of member states of the UN, representatives of NGO, INGOs, media, academician, and officials of UN bodies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Appreciating Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s generosity in allowing Rohingyas to take shelter in Bangladesh and various efforts of Bangladesh including education for forcibly displaced Rohingyas, UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Director General of the International Organization for Migration also called upon the international community to provide increased humanitarian assistance for the Rohingyas in their dire need.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They also acknowledged that repatriation is key to resolving the Rohingya crisis and Myanmar has to demonstrate political will to that end.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The EU, US, Norway, Switzerland, Australia and some other donor countries announced their respective contributions for the Rohingyas for 2023 in the JRP event.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The State Minister also met with High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk at the UN Office in Geneva and briefed him of the efforts made by the government under the dynamic leadership of Sheikh Hasina to promote and protect human rights of all. He reiterated the government’s commitment to consistent engagement with the UN human rights mechanisms.  </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The State Minister briefed the High Commissioner about Rohingya camp situations in Cox’s Bazar and the newly built Bhasan Char shelter.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He emphasized burden sharing by the international community and its stronger commitment to their right to return and to ensuring justice and accountability for them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">High Commissioner Volker Turk applauded Bangladesh’s outstanding advancements in socio-economic arena, and its engagement with UN mechanisms. He praised Bangladesh’s humanitarian leadership in sheltering Rohingyas and efforts to advance world peace. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>