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GENEVA / ROHINGYA UPDATE
STORY: GENEVA / ROHINGYA UPDATE
TRT: 02:13
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 15 SEPTEMBER 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / RECENT
RECENT, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations
15 SEPTEMBER 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot of press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrej Mahecic, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Spokesperson:
“Violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in the past three weeks has made this one of the fastest growing refugee crises in recent years.”
4. Wide shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrej Mahecic, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Spokesperson:
“Many Rohingya families are sleeping rough on roadsides and riverbanks. We are also witnessing the remarkable generosity of Bangladeshi communities in Teknaf and elsewhere who have been welcoming refugees into their homes and sharing their resources.”
6. Med shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Bettina Luescher, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Spokesperson:
“Inside Myanmar we have been able, over the last three days, to provide food to people in IDP camps that had not received food in August. In collaboration with the Rakhine State Government, and we hope to reach some 50,000 people in the coming days.”
8. Med shot, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Bettina Luescher, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Spokesperson:
“The good news is, in the last three days, we have been able to get food to people in Myanmar.”
10. Close up, journalist
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrej Mahecic, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Spokesperson:
“It also has to do with what the fate of these people are and what they’re entitled to. Refugees are entitled to protection. The states have obligations vis-a-vis refugees and that is why for us it is essential that we have been, from the outset, calling it a refugee crisis.”
12. Close up, journalist
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrej Mahecic, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Spokesperson:
“I would like to remind you that the Bangladeshi Prime Minister referred to these people as refugees, the Secretary General is referring to these people as refugees, and clearly for the sake of the solutions for them it is important that we refer to them, and the situation they are in.”
14. Wide shot, podium
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Marixie Mercado, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Spokesperson:
“The needs are seemingly endless and the suffering is deepening. There is tension rising in both the refugee camps and in the informal settlements. Far more is needed. Not only in funding but also in terms of hands on the ground to help scale-up this relief operation.”
16. Wide shot, journalists
This week, humanitarian agencies have been able to extend their aid to internally displaced Rohingya people fleeing violence in Myanmar. The crisis of Myanmar's Rohingya minority fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh is being called one of the fastest growing refugee crises in recent years, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Speaking today (15 Sep) to journalists in Geneva, UNHCR's spokesperson Andrej Mahecic said that "violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in the past three weeks has made this one of the fastest growing refugee crises in recent years”. He added that “many Rohingya families are sleeping rough on roadsides and riverbanks. We are also witnessing the remarkable generosity of Bangladeshi communities in Teknaf and elsewhere who have been welcoming refugees into their homes and sharing their resources.”
According to UNHCR, an estimated 380,000 Rohingya refugees are reported to have arrived in Bangladesh since 25 August 2017. In response to the unfolding crisis, UNHCR has emptied its warehouses in Bangladesh to assist the newly arrived stateless Rohingya refugees. Deliveries of more aid provided by UNHCR are currently underway. The first 15 of 35 scheduled trucks have arrived in Cox’s Bazar today and aid is being delivered to Kutupalong and Nyapara camps and other sites in south-eastern Bangladesh.
Humanitarian aid, such as foodstuff and hot meals, has also been able to reach internally displaced people (IDP) inside Myanmar who have not crossed the border into Bangladesh. Bettina Luescher, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that “inside Myanmar we have been able, over the last three days, to provide food to people in IDP camps that had not received food in August. In collaboration with the Rakhine State Government, and we hope to reach some 50,000 people in the coming days.”
The escalating crisis is also impacting women and children with some Rohingya women crossing the border while pregnant and lactating. According to UNICEF's spokesperson Marixie Mercado, “the needs are seemingly endless and the suffering is deepening. There is tension rising in both the refugee camps and in the informal settlements. Far more is needed. Not only in funding but also in terms of hands on the ground to help scale-up this relief operation.”
Humanitarian agencies such as UNHCR have also reiterated and stressed the protection that refugees are entitled to in such crisis situations. Mahecic said “it also has to do with what the fate of these people are and what they’re entitled to. Refugees are entitled to protection. The states have obligations vis-a-vis refugees and that is why for us it is essential that we have been, from the outset, calling it a refugee crisis.”
Mahecic added that “the Bangladeshi Prime Minister referred to these people as refugees, the Secretary General is referring to these people as refugees, and clearly for the sake of the solutions for them it is important that we refer to them, and the situation they are in.”
Many humanitarian agencies, such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, have increased their appeal for support while working closely with the Government of Bangladesh towards a coordinated response.
Martin Faller, Deputy Regional Director, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said that “this is desperate. It’s one of the biggest man-made crises and mass movements of people in the region for decades.”
Faller added that “all humanitarian agencies are working nonstop, but in the Cox’s Bazar area the enormous scale of this crisis means that hundreds of thousands of people are living in makeshift camps and spontaneous settlements with next to nothing.”
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