Staff Reporter :
United States (US) Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Anne C Richard has said Rohingyas deserve Myanmar citizenship to end their statelessness, which she identified as a root cause of their plight and displacement.
Anne C Richard said the Rohingya population remained stateless, as “they are not recognised as a distinct ethnic group in the country’s citizenship law”. “Statelessness is a key reason to flee to neighbouring countries. The Rohingya population deserve Myanmar citizenship,” she said.
She was delivering a lecture on ‘US Policy on Refugee, Migration and
Population Dynamics’ arranged by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) at its Auditorium in the capital’s Old Elephent Road.
Chairman of the BISS Board of Governors Ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmad presided over the function while Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque spoke there.
Anne arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday from Myanmar on a four-day tour, her first after she joined the post in Washington in 2012, “to learn from the Bangladesh perspective” of the situation of the refugees here. Anne Richard said that the US is committed to resettling refugees who cannot return home saying it wants to expand partnership with Bangladesh.
“We look forward to expanding our partnership with Bangladesh in the years to come,” she said adding the current situation regarding refugee issue benefits no one.
Chairman of the BIISS Board of Governance Munshi Faiz Ahmed said the US, as the most powerful country, also had the responsibility to help resolve the problem.
He said given the density of its population “it is difficult for Bangladesh to welcome new migrants”.
“We hope arrangements should be made inside Myanmar,” he said, hoping that “the US is aware of the problem and its solution as well”. Anne Richard said there are lots coming in the months to come to try to pin down the actual status of the people of Rakhine state.
Responding to a question, Anne said she does not think the US voice is weak on Burma issue and mentioned that lots have been done, and there is a realisation that the situation in Rakhaine cannot just be ignored.
The US official laid emphasis on ensuring freedom of movement, removing lack of educational and livelihood opportunities there. Describing each crisis ‘unique’, the US Assistant Secretary said she just has come from Burma, where hopes for the future are threatened by ethnic and religious rivalries and violence. Since 2011, violence in Kachin and northern Shan States has internally displaced an estimated 100,000 people. And since 2012, fighting in Rakhine State between ethnic Rakhine and Rohingya communities has displaced 140,000.
Anne visited both of these areas and participated in a high-level Human Rights Dialogue.
“The United States has been urging the Burmese government to take steps to end hostilities, build mutual confidence, and establish a political dialogue,” she said adding that at the highest levels, they have repeatedly pressed the government of Burma to take decisive action to address the root causes of conflict.
The US assistant Secretary said Bangladesh has made impressive gains in the fight against poverty and dramatic improvements in nutrition, maternal and child health, education, and empowering women and girls.
“Bangladesh is the only country that participates in all three of
President Obama’s major development initiatives – on health, food security, and climate change,” she added.
She thanked Bangladesh for hosting “hundreds of thousands” of Rohingyas for decades.
She also appreciated Bangladesh for giving 300,000 Urdu-speaking people citizenship that, she said, provided “a shining example” of giving stateless people nationality.
Anne said the US and she personally want to thank Bangladesh for what this nation has done to help vulnerable people. “For decades, you have hosted hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas…and you have launched the national Strategy for Undocumented Myanmar Nationals, which can help provide critical humanitarian assistance and protection.”
Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque said the US has been extremely vocal to effectively address the Rohingya issues, give them all kinds of freedom also take them back to their home.
He said the US President Barack Obama was very categorical in saying, ‘Give their citizenship back’.
