UN refugee chief rejects call to resettle Rohingya
YANGON, Myanmar — A U.N. official has rejected a suggestion by Myanmar's president that the world refugee agency resettle or take care of ethnic Rohingyas who live in the Southeast Asian country.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told reporters Thursday it was not his agency's job.
Myanmar denies citizenship to the Rohingya and considers them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Some have lived there generations.
President Thein Sein's website said he told Guterres in a meeting Wednesday that the solution to ethnic enmity in Myanmar's western Rakhine state was to either send the Rohingya to a third country or have the UNHCR look after them.
Clashes last month between Buddhist Rakhines and Muslin Rohingya left at least 78 people dead and tens of thousands homeless.
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YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees on Thursday rejected a suggestion by Myanmar's president that the world body resettle or take care of ethnic Rohingyas who have settled in the Southeast Asian country.
UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres told reporters it was not his agency's job to resettle the Rohingya, who live in western Myanmar but without Myanmar citizenship.
On his website, President Thein Sein said he told Guterres in a meeting Wednesday that the solution to ethnic enmity in Myanmar's western Rakhine state was to either send the Rohingya to a third country or have the UNHCR look after them.
Clashes last month between Buddhist Rakhines and Muslin Rohingya left at least 78 people dead and tens of thousands homeless. The Rakhine consider the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.
Thein Sein described the violence at the time as a threat to the democratic and economic reforms his government launched after decades of repressive rule by a military junta.
"The resettlement programs organized by UNHCR are for refugees who are fleeing a country to another, in very specific circumstances. Obviously, it's not related to this situation," said Guterres.
Thein Sein's reported suggestion to Guterres left unclear exactly how many people he had in mind. The U.N. estimates there are about 800,000 Rohingya in Myanmar. The count includes people of Bengali heritage who settled centuries ago, as well as people who may have entered the country in recent decades.
Many people in Myanmar don't recognize as legitimate settlers even those of Bengali heritage who came in the 19th century, when Myanmar was under British rule and called Burma.
Large exoduses of Rohingya to Bangladesh in the 1980s and 1990s because of persecution, and their subsequent return, also add to the confusion over who is an illegal immigrant.
Thein Sein told Guterres that according to Myanmar law, those Bengalis who settled in Myanmar before the country gained independence from Britain in 1948 and their children are regarded as citizens. However, post-independence immigrants are officially considered illegal and threatening to the country's stability.
Sources Here :
In practice, it is difficult for many people of Bengali heritage to obtain citizenship, and they face discriminatory legal restrictions on movement, marriage and reproduction.
"We will take responsibility of our ethnic nationals but it is impossible to accept those Rohingyas who are not our ethnic nationals who had entered the country illegally. The only solution is to hand those illegal Rohingyas to the UNHCR or to send them to any third country that would accept them," Thein Sein told Guterres, according to his website.
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UN refugee chief rejects call to resettle Rohingya
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees on Thursday rejected a suggestion by Myanmar's president that the world body resettle or take care of ethnic Rohingyas who have settled in the Southeast Asian country.
UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres told reporters it was not his agency's job to resettle the Rohingya, who live in western Myanmar but without Myanmar citizenship.
On his website, President Thein Sein said he told Guterres in a meeting Wednesday that the solution to ethnic enmity in Myanmar's western Rakhine state was to either send the Rohingya to a third country or have the UNHCR look after them.
Clashes last month between Buddhist Rakhines and Muslin Rohingya left at least 78 people dead and tens of thousands homeless. The Rakhine consider the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.
Thein Sein described the violence at the time as a threat to the democratic and economic reforms his government launched after decades of repressive rule by a military junta.
"The resettlement programs organized by UNHCR are for refugees who are fleeing a country to another, in very specific circumstances. Obviously, it's not related to this situation," said Guterres.
Thein Sein's reported suggestion to Guterres left unclear exactly how many people he had in mind. The U.N. estimates there are about 800,000 Rohingya in Myanmar. The count includes people of Bengali heritage who settled centuries ago, as well as people who may have entered the country in recent decades.
Many people in Myanmar don't recognize as legitimate settlers even those of Bengali heritage who came in the 19th century, when Myanmar was under British rule and called Burma.
Large exoduses of Rohingya to Bangladesh in the 1980s and 1990s because of persecution, and their subsequent return, also add to the confusion over who is an illegal immigrant.
Thein Sein told Guterres that according to Myanmar law, those Bengalis who settled in Myanmar before the country gained independence from Britain in 1948 and their children are regarded as citizens. However, post-independence immigrants are officially considered illegal and threatening to the country's stability.
Sources Here :
In practice, it is difficult for many people of Bengali heritage to obtain citizenship, and they face discriminatory legal restrictions on movement, marriage and reproduction.
"We will take responsibility of our ethnic nationals but it is impossible to accept those Rohingyas who are not our ethnic nationals who had entered the country illegally. The only solution is to hand those illegal Rohingyas to the UNHCR or to send them to any third country that would accept them," Thein Sein told Guterres, according to his website.
Very disappointed to hear the president's outright rejection of the Rohingya citizenship. Himself being a former General, it was expected but his pretensions of being a reformer is now clear from this. From this we can surmise that, in the recent Rohingya genocide the state was involved. It was a planned genocide. Abid Bahar
How the world is so silent where thousands of world most persecuted people of Rohingya are mercilessly massacred by the racist Buddhist Rakhine with collaborating with the so called security personnel.It's totally state sponsored terrorism committed by the Burmese regime.It's nothing more than genocide and how the powerful the burmese regime is today in the world, dare to defy the world by rejecting the legitimate right of a ethnic group, who represented in burmese political system throughout the history, and shamelessly denying our legitimate existence and irresponsibly accusing the entire community as illegal immigrants from the neighboring Bangladesh.Please on behalf of the people of Rohingya, I am from here appealing earnestly to all UN bodies, and world power to take concrete step to save the helpless Rohingya from the mass killing and forceful displacement from their own home and total inhuman economic blockade to kill all of remaining innocent civilian with severe starvation under the pretax of the imposing the emergency law, it's first emergency law in the world that is made by the powerful Burmese regime, which is totally bias and double standard. Please save and protect helpless Rohingya from the imminent danger of the genocide. Best regards,
i think all magh or rakhine who are originally from Burmese ancestors...living in bangladesh for centuries should be deported immidiately..or bd govt should deny their bangladeshi citizenship..
i m a rohingya ,,our matter must refer to U N SECURITY COUNCIL ,,to handle with myanmar ruthless and stubborn government,,