'We are all Rohingya'

The international community cannot turn its head away from the Rohingya crisis, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said yesterday.

“I am extremely humbled and moved by the courage of the #Rohingya. We cannot turn our heads away. We stand in solidarity -- today we are all Rohingya,” Jim tweeted after visiting the refugee camps in Kutupalong along with UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

At a press conference after the visit, Jim said the Rohingya issue was not a problem only for the host country or the refugees.

“It is everybody's problem. We heard heartbreaking stories... We heard the Rohingyas. We find that their first priority is justice,” he said at a Rohingya camp in Kutupalong.

“Our cooperation with UN agencies is unprecedented. By filling the gap between humanitarian and development response, we are able to provide better support to refugees and host communities,” he said.

On June 28, Kim had tweeted that “Bangladesh showed great generosity in providing refuge for the #Rohingya”.

“Today, thanks to our partnership with Canada, we announced up to $480 million to support this effort. We stand ready to help until the refugees can return home safely and voluntarily,” he said.

UN Refugee Agency head Filippo Grandi accompanied Guterres and Jim to the Rohingya camps. They listened to the Rohingya men and women, boys and girls and saw for themselves the squalid camps made of bamboo and plastic roofs.