July 11, 2020 / By mobanmarket
Bangladesh told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that it cannot take any more refugees from Myanmar, some 18 months after more than 700,000 mainly Rohingya Muslims started pouring across the border fleeing a military crackdown.
Attacks on security posts by Rohingya insurgents in Myanmar’s Rakhine state were followed by an extreme crackdown that the United Nations, the US, Britain and others describe as ethnic cleansing. Myanmar denies the accusations.
"I regret to inform the council that Bangladesh would no longer be in a position to accommodate more people from Myanmar," Shahidul Haque, the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary, said.
Mr Haque accused Myanmar of "hollow promises and various obstructionist approaches" during negotiations on returns.
"Not a single Rohingya has volunteered to return to Rakhine due to the absence of conducive environment there," Haque said.
Several council members from western countries stressed that the return of refugees needed to be safe, voluntary, dignified and secure, and pushed for the Myanmar government to allow the United Nations widespread and unconditional access to Rakhine.
Telegraph photographer Heathcliff O'Malley's pictures of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
Christine Schraner-Burgener, UN envoy to Myanmar, told the Security Council that UN access was currently "insufficient."
"The scale of what has been done to the Rohingya Muslims and the allegations of crimes against humanity really mark this out as one of the most terrible events of this century so far," she said.
The 15-member Security Council has been split over how to deal with the crisis, with western powers pitted against Russia and Myanmar ally China.
China’s Deputy UN Ambassador Wu Haitao said it was mainly an issue between Myanmar and neighboring Bangladesh "and as such it is up to the two countries to work out a solution."
Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy agreed.
In December, Britain circulated a draft resolution to council members that diplomats said aims to put a timeline on Myanmar allowing the return of refugees and addressing accountability, but China and Russia have boycotted talks on the draft.
Deputy US Ambassador Jonathan Cohen said: "The international community cannot ignore the world’s largest refugee camp."
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