M M Jasim :
A high level 15-member delegation from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will visit Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar district today (Sunday).
The UNSC team will stay about three hours at Rohingya camp from 9:20am to 12:45pm today for talks with the Rohingya people and to observe the overall situation, according to an official of the Foreign Ministry.
The delegation will leave for Kutupalong Rohingya camp at 8:20am. They will first go to no man’s land on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
They will talk with Rohingyas in various blocks of Kutupalong camp and then will brief the media at 12:45pm.
The UNSC team is scheduled to leave Cox’s Bazar for Dhaka at 3:30pm on Sunday.
They are programmed to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the Gonobhaban at 9:30am on Monday and will leave Dhaka at 10:30am for Myanmar.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh will describe the brutalities the Rohingyas faced in Rakhine State and steps taken by the government here.
The government hopes the UNSC visit, which is rare in the region, will pave the way for a sustainable solution to the decade old Rohingya crisis.
Earlier, Bangladesh also urged the UN Security Council to undertake visits to Myanmar and Bangladesh to witness the humanitarian situation of the Rohingya amid continuous influx of the refugees.
The UNSC delegation comprising envoys from five permanent members (China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and 10 non-permanent members reached Cox’s Bazar on Sunday afternoon.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam and acting Foreign Secretary Rear Admiral (retd) M Khurshed Alam received the UNSC delegation in Cox’s Bazar.
About 10 lakh Rohingyas sought refuge in Bangladesh since Myanmar military began its crackdown on the minority community living in northern Maungdaw of Rakhine province last October.
Access to the area has been restricted ever since.
