Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus says justice and security are vital for Rohingya before returning to Myanmar.
Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has warned that his country can no longer provide additional support for the 1.5 million Rohingya refugees it shelters, calling on the international community to work on a roadmap for the voluntary return of the persecuted minority back to their homeland in Myanmar.
Speaking in Cox’s Bazar on Monday at a two-day conference marking eight years since the mass expulsion of the mostly Muslim minority from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, the Nobel peace laureate unveiled a seven-point plan aimed at securing the refugees’ safe and voluntary return.
“Their right to return to their own home and homeland has to be secured,” he said, urging all parties to develop “a practical roadmap for their safe and dignified, voluntary and sustainable return… The time is for action right now.” Yunus also appealed to donors to reverse declining funding, stressing that increased support was essential to sustain life-saving aid programmes.
His proposals call for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar, the creation of dialogue platforms to ease tensions between ethnic groups, and stronger involvement from ASEAN and regional powers to restore stability.
