US increases aid as envoy in Bangladesh casts doubt over Rohingya return

A TOP US rights envoy in Bangladesh said last Thursday (13) that conditions remain unsafe for the return of ethnic Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, with Washington pledging further aid for the crisis.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have discussed efforts to repatriate Rohingya refugees to their homeland, where they have been subject to decades of persecution and are denied citizenship.

“We support efforts to create the conditions for eventual, safe, dignified, informed and voluntary return of Rohingya – conditions that do not currently exist,” Uzra Zeya, the US under-secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights, told reporters in Dhaka.

Zeya, speaking after talks with Bangladesh’s foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen, commended Dhaka for “reaffirming their commitment against forced return” of Rohingya people.

“Obviously, we will not do anything to harm the refugees or Rohingyas that we have, who have been welcomed in Bangladesh,” Momen said.

Dozens have been killed in Rohingya camp clashes between rival insurgent forces this year, with Human Rights Watch last Thursday warning of “surging violence by armed groups and criminal gangs”.

The United States is the biggest donor to Rohingya humanitarian efforts, contributing more than $2.1 billion (£1.6bn) in aid to the Rohingyas and host communities in Bangladesh. Zeya last Thursday announced a further $74 million (£56.5m) in aid, including for Rohingyas refugees in Bangladesh and in camps in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

However, funding cuts forced the UN food agency to cut rations to refugee settlements twice this year.

The US diplomat also met Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina and discussed “the need for free and fair election” due in January 2024.