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GENEVA / ROHINGYA REPATRIATION
STORY: GENEVA / ROHINGYA REPATRIATION
TRT: 2:33
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 NOVEMBER 2018 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior shot, Palais des Nations.
2. Wide shot, journalists, podium.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Christophe Boulierac, spokesperson for UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“We have seen widespread reports that Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh may be forcibly repatriated to Myanmar, reports that UNICEF views with the utmost concern.”
4. Med shot, podium.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Christophe Boulierac, spokesperson for UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“The camp authorities reinforced the message that while they are ready to repatriate refugees on a voluntary basis, no Rohingya refugee will be forced to return to Myanmar if they do not wish to do so.”
6. Med shot, journalists.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Christophe Boulierac, spokesperson for UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“Rohingya children and families who remain in Rakhine state continue to face particular hardship and are in need of humanitarian assistance, due to ongoing restrictions on their freedom of movement and limited access to essential services, such as health and education.”
8. Close up, journalists.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Christophe Boulierac, spokesperson for UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“Unofficial polls conducted by our UNICEF colleagues in the camps have all reached the same conclusion: the overwhelming majority of refugees are unwilling to be repatriated unless their safety can be guaranteed.”
10. Close up, journalist, UN logo.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Christophe Boulierac, spokesperson for UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF):
“UNHCR has recommended that any repatriation must be voluntary, sustainable, conducted in safety and with dignity. We would take grave exception towards any moves to repatriate children that does not conform to these criteria.”
12. Close up, journalist.
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
“Refugee repatriation anywhere in the world is based on the premise of the free and informed choice by the people who are supposed to return. And that has been our consistent line on that, and also that has been a principle that is reflected in all of the documents, including the bilateral agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar that the international standards of refugee repatriation will be observed.”
14. Wide shot, journalists.
15. Close up, journalists.
16. Close up, journalist.
17. Med shot, journalists.
18. Close up, hands typing on laptop.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has welcomed confirmation from the Bangladesh authorities that Rohingya refugees will not be returned to Myanmar against their will, amid reported ongoing rights violations there.
Since late August 2017, widespread and systematic violence against Myanmar’s mainly-Muslim minority Rohingya, has forced hundreds of thousands to flee Rakhine state and seek refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh. Prior to that, well over 200,000 Rohingya refugees were already sheltering in Bangladesh following earlier displacements.According to estimates, there are currently some 925,000 Rohingya refugees sheltering in Bangladesh.
“We have seen widespread reports that Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh may be forcibly repatriated to Myanmar, reports that UNICEF views with the utmost concern,” said UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac Friday (16 Nov) in Geneva.
“The camp authorities reinforced the message that while they are ready to repatriate refugees on a voluntary basis, no Rohingya refugee will be forced to return to Myanmar if they do not wish to do so,” he added.
Boulierac explained that Rohingya communities inside Myanmar remain vulnerable, before appealing for unhindered access and simplified access procedures, to enable the timely and predictable delivery of life-saving aid and assistance:
“Rohingya children and families who remain in Rakhine state continue to face particular hardship and are in need of humanitarian assistance,” he said, “due to ongoing restrictions on their freedom of movement and limited access to essential services, such as health and education.”
UNICEF’s comments reflect the views of Rohingya refugees sheltering in Cox’s Bazar, even though conditions there are “preferable to the perceived risks of returning to Myanmar”, Boulierac explained: “Unofficial polls conducted by our UNICEF colleagues in the camps have all reached the same conclusion: the overwhelming majority of refugees are unwilling to be repatriated unless their safety can be guaranteed.”
The development follows an appeal from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, that Rohingya refugee returns “should only take place at their freely expressed wish”.
Echoing his comments, UNHCR spokesperson Anderj Mahecic stressed on Friday that refugee repatriation “anywhere in the world is based on the premise of the free and informed choice by the people who are supposed to return”.
“That has been our consistent line,” Mahecic told journalists, “also that has been a principle that is reflected in all of the documents, including the bilateral agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar that the international standards of refugee repatriation will be observed.”
In addition to the “incredibly worrying” situation inside Myanmar, UNICEF remains seriously concerned about refugee children inside Bangladesh, warning of a “lost generation”.
In a bid to help youngsters in Cox’s Bazar, the UN agency is continuing to roll out a series of educational initiatives for children of all ages, including providing a network of Learning Centres and Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs). There are now more than 1,100 learning centers run by UNICEF and its partners in the camps which reach 124, 000 children with education, Boulierac said.
Earlier this year, an international probe on Myanmar established by the UN Human Rights Council concluded that violence against minorities by the country’s security forces amounted to “the gravest crimes under international law”. Noting the “pervasive culture of impunity at the domestic level”, it named senior generals of the Myanmar military and recommended that they should be prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
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