Diplomacy

EU to keep the pressure on Myanmar

Says EU special rep Gilmore

The EU will continue to support the Rohingya people for their right to return to their homeland, said Eamon Gilmore, the EU's special representative for human rights.

"We will continue our pressure on the Myanmar regime," he told reporters after a visit to the Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar yesterday.

The situation in Myanmar has deteriorated after the military coup and the EU has enforced several rounds of sanctions against the military regime and their supporters, including some of the economic entities in Myanmar.

"We will continue that pressure. We will continue to talk with the other countries about what can be done to bring about the necessary changes in Myanmar so that the Rohingya refugees can return with safety and with dignity to their home and that is the ultimate solution to the problem."

In the meantime, the EU will continue to provide support for the refugees who are in Cox's Bazar.

He also applauded the education facilities and the opportunities provided for education in the camps.

"The majority of the population in the camps are young people. Education has a value and it can never be taken away," said Gilmore, who went to Cox's Bazar as part of a five-member EU delegation.

The delegation includes Viktor Velek, political adviser to European External Action Service; Charles Whiteley, EU ambassador to Dhaka; Sebastian Rieger-Brown, first secretary (political); and Anna Orlandini, who oversees EU's humanitarian efforts in Bangladesh.

The delegation met with 15 Rohingya representatives, both men and women, at UNHCR's Community Centre at Camp 4.

A Rohingya leader who participated in the discussion said they told the delegation that the situation in Rakhine is still not suitable for repatriation.

Mohammad Zubair, chairman of Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), a camp-based organisation working for the rights and justice of Rohingya people, said he along with some executive members of their organisation met the delegation at Camp 4 extension and handed them a letter.

"In the letter, we requested the EU delegation to help us with dignified and justified repatriation and create a safe zone for Rohingyas in Myanmar," he said.

A Rohingya woman expressed her concern over the reduction in food assistance to $8 from $12. She told the delegation that they are struggling to run their family.

Later, the delegation visited the Rohingya Cultural Centre operated by the International Organisation for Migration and met with the Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commissioner at his office in Cox's Bazar town in the evening.

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EU to keep the pressure on Myanmar

Says EU special rep Gilmore

The EU will continue to support the Rohingya people for their right to return to their homeland, said Eamon Gilmore, the EU's special representative for human rights.

"We will continue our pressure on the Myanmar regime," he told reporters after a visit to the Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar yesterday.

The situation in Myanmar has deteriorated after the military coup and the EU has enforced several rounds of sanctions against the military regime and their supporters, including some of the economic entities in Myanmar.

"We will continue that pressure. We will continue to talk with the other countries about what can be done to bring about the necessary changes in Myanmar so that the Rohingya refugees can return with safety and with dignity to their home and that is the ultimate solution to the problem."

In the meantime, the EU will continue to provide support for the refugees who are in Cox's Bazar.

He also applauded the education facilities and the opportunities provided for education in the camps.

"The majority of the population in the camps are young people. Education has a value and it can never be taken away," said Gilmore, who went to Cox's Bazar as part of a five-member EU delegation.

The delegation includes Viktor Velek, political adviser to European External Action Service; Charles Whiteley, EU ambassador to Dhaka; Sebastian Rieger-Brown, first secretary (political); and Anna Orlandini, who oversees EU's humanitarian efforts in Bangladesh.

The delegation met with 15 Rohingya representatives, both men and women, at UNHCR's Community Centre at Camp 4.

A Rohingya leader who participated in the discussion said they told the delegation that the situation in Rakhine is still not suitable for repatriation.

Mohammad Zubair, chairman of Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), a camp-based organisation working for the rights and justice of Rohingya people, said he along with some executive members of their organisation met the delegation at Camp 4 extension and handed them a letter.

"In the letter, we requested the EU delegation to help us with dignified and justified repatriation and create a safe zone for Rohingyas in Myanmar," he said.

A Rohingya woman expressed her concern over the reduction in food assistance to $8 from $12. She told the delegation that they are struggling to run their family.

Later, the delegation visited the Rohingya Cultural Centre operated by the International Organisation for Migration and met with the Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commissioner at his office in Cox's Bazar town in the evening.

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