Shafaqna English- Nine years into the crisis, more than one million Rohingya refugees remain in Bangladesh.
Despite years of international efforts, there is still no clear political solution, no guaranteed path to citizenship and no credible assurance that Rohingya refugees would be able to live safely and freely if they returned.
In an interview with Al Jazeera” Evo Freyen, the UNHCR representative in Bangladesh, discussed the worsening humanitarian situation, declining international funding, the future of Rohingya children and the conditions required for a sustainable return to Myanmar.
Freyen rejected the idea that the international community has completely abandoned the Rohingya, saying donors and international institutions have continued to provide substantial funding for years. However, he acknowledged that funding is now declining while the number of refugees in Bangladesh continues to increase.
He said the prolonged nature of the crisis has increasingly led Rohingya refugees to question whether returning to Myanmar will ever be possible.
His message to the international community, he said, is that countries must come together, engage with the various actors in Myanmar and work to create conditions that give refugees hope that a return will eventually become possible.
Sources: IQNA