UNB, Dhaka :
International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director General William Lacy Swing has said there can be no lasting peace in Rakhine State of Myanmar without inclusive development.
“IOM, together with our UN partners, supports the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State established by Myanmar’s Office of the State Counsellor and the Kofi Annan Foundation,” he said.
The IOM DG said they see this as a ‘roadmap to peaceful co-existence’ in Rakhine and welcome the Myanmar government’s commitment to implement the Commission’s findings.
“The first step, in that implementation process, will be to urgently allow UN agencies to resume their work in Rakhine State,” he wrote in his recent article titled ‘Why We Must Intervene to End the Suffering of Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar’.
But the most urgent need is now in Cox’s Bazar on the other side of the border, said Swing.
“Unless we support the efforts of the Bangladesh government to provide immediate aid to the half million people who have arrived over the past month, many of the most vulnerable – women, children and the elderly – will die. They’ll be the victims of neglect,” he said.
Bangladesh, IOM and its partners are now struggling to provide adequate shelter, food, clean water, healthcare and protection to hundreds of thousands camped out over the vast muddy sites that now dot Cox’s Bazar.
Five weeks on from the start of the crisis, funding has started to arrive, but much more will be needed.
Swing said, if IOM’s appeal to the international community for US$ 120 million does not meet its target, prospects for the refugees are dismal. “The money is desperately needed for shelter and non-food relief items, site development, site management; water and sanitation, health, protection, coordination, and communication and feedback in the settlements.”
Without it, families will continue to suffer in the open or under inadequate plastic sheeting under daily, heavy rain, he said.
The lack of clean water and sanitation, which has already led to fecal contamination of water sources, will lead to outbreaks of waterborne diseases, including cholera.
“Women who have suffered violent sexual assault will not get the vital care that they need, and often lifesaving. And a lack of protection will make the refugees – particularly women and children – targets for human traffickers,” Swing said.
International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director General William Lacy Swing has said there can be no lasting peace in Rakhine State of Myanmar without inclusive development.
“IOM, together with our UN partners, supports the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State established by Myanmar’s Office of the State Counsellor and the Kofi Annan Foundation,” he said.
The IOM DG said they see this as a ‘roadmap to peaceful co-existence’ in Rakhine and welcome the Myanmar government’s commitment to implement the Commission’s findings.
“The first step, in that implementation process, will be to urgently allow UN agencies to resume their work in Rakhine State,” he wrote in his recent article titled ‘Why We Must Intervene to End the Suffering of Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar’.
But the most urgent need is now in Cox’s Bazar on the other side of the border, said Swing.
“Unless we support the efforts of the Bangladesh government to provide immediate aid to the half million people who have arrived over the past month, many of the most vulnerable – women, children and the elderly – will die. They’ll be the victims of neglect,” he said.
Bangladesh, IOM and its partners are now struggling to provide adequate shelter, food, clean water, healthcare and protection to hundreds of thousands camped out over the vast muddy sites that now dot Cox’s Bazar.
Five weeks on from the start of the crisis, funding has started to arrive, but much more will be needed.
Swing said, if IOM’s appeal to the international community for US$ 120 million does not meet its target, prospects for the refugees are dismal. “The money is desperately needed for shelter and non-food relief items, site development, site management; water and sanitation, health, protection, coordination, and communication and feedback in the settlements.”
Without it, families will continue to suffer in the open or under inadequate plastic sheeting under daily, heavy rain, he said.
The lack of clean water and sanitation, which has already led to fecal contamination of water sources, will lead to outbreaks of waterborne diseases, including cholera.
“Women who have suffered violent sexual assault will not get the vital care that they need, and often lifesaving. And a lack of protection will make the refugees – particularly women and children – targets for human traffickers,” Swing said.
