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GENEVA / ROHINGYA CRISIS
STORY: GENEVA / ROHINGYA CRISIS
TRT: 3:30
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATTS
DATELINE: 15 FEBRUARY 2019 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Shahriar Alam, Bangladesh Foreign Minister:
“We have allocated 6,500 acres of forest land, we have sent around 122 million US$, we have already spent a quarter of a billion dollar to get one of our island prepared ready to host up to hundred thousand of Rohingyas in the first phase of our effort to relocate them, because the place where they are staying is vulnerable to heavy rain and cyclone”.
4. Med shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Shahriar Alam, Bangladesh Foreign Minister:
“As we appreciate your efforts and valuable contributions, the key is repatriations and Bangladesh with the help of UN agencies and some neighbouring countries is making efforts. We are into arrangement and we have signed an agreement with Myanmar, but unfortunately the situation in Myanmar is still not conducive for a voluntary, safe and dignified return”.
6. Wide shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
“This year 920 million for both refugees and host communities, I think a total beneficiary population of 1,2 or 1,3 million people. So a large program. I speak for UNHCR, this remains one of the biggest priorities, another monsoon season is upon us, it will be starting in 2 or 3 months, so we need to accelerate work”.
8. Med shot, podium
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
“The challenge has been again in the last few weeks, renewed insecurity in the north of Rakhine State which in fact has provoked to a limited extent some further internal displacement, but more importantly has prevented us from having that access that is necessary to carry out the activities that have been approved”.
10. Med shot, journalists
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Vitorino, Director-General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM):
“The appeal for the international community to support the action of the government of Bangladesh and for the international agencies, but also of the local NGO’s, it’s precisely to guarantee that at the same time we address the needs of those who are displaced but we minimise the impacts that those massive displacements of people have in those host communities”.
12. Wide shot, stakeout area
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Vitorino, Director-General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM):
“There are limits for humanitarian assistance, and the situation requires a sustainable definite solution that will require political will and to a large extent the prospect that we all aim is to guarantee safe, dignified return of the Rohingya to the Rakhine region and that lies to a large extend in the hands of the Myanmar authorities. So, we appeal for the necessary political will to be mobilised so that a definite solution can be found”.
14. Med shot, stakeout
15. Med shot, podium
16. Med shot, journalists
17. Close up, journalists
18. Close up, journalists
United Nations aid agencies with their national and international humanitarian partners launched today the 2019 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis. The appeal seeks to raise US$ 920 million to meet the massive needs of more than 900,000 refugees from Myanmar and over 330,000 vulnerable Bangladesh's host communities.
Speaking to media at the United Nations in Geneva, Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that this appeal was “for both refugees and host communities, I think a total beneficiary population of 1,2 or 1,3 million people. So, a large program. I speak for UNHCR, this remains one of the biggest priorities, another monsoon season is upon us, it will be starting in 2 or 3 months, so we need to accelerate work”.
More than 745,000 Rohingya refugees have fled from Myanmar’s Rakhine State to Bangladesh since August 2017, escaping violence in Myanmar and joining roughly 200,000 others already displaced in the Cox’s Bazar area by previous cycles of violence.
“The challenge has been again in the last few weeks, renewed insecurity in the north of Rakhine State which in fact has provoked to a limited extent some further internal displacement, but more importantly has prevented us from having that access that is necessary to carry out the activities that have been approved,” the High Commissioner said. But with the support of the Bangladeshi authorities and local communities, critical needs were met in the past months and many lives of Rohingya refugees have been saved, he added.
Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Shariar Alam said that “we have allocated 6,500 acres of forest land, we have sent around 122 million US$, we have already spent a quarter of a billion dollar to get one of our island prepared ready to host up to hundred thousand of Rohingyas in the first phase of our effort to relocate them, because the place where they are staying is vulnerable to heavy rain and cyclone”.
Alam stressed however that “the key is repatriations, and Bangladesh with the help of UN agencies and some neighbouring countries is making efforts. We are into arrangement and we have signed an agreement with Myanmar, but unfortunately the situation in Myanmar is still not conducive for a voluntary, safe and dignified return,” the Foreign Minister said.
Critical aid and services such as food, water, sanitation and shelter represent more than half of the funding needs this year. Other key sectors of the appeal include health, site management, protection activities including child protection and addressing sexual and gender-based violence, education and nutrition.
“The appeal for the international community to support the action of the government of Bangladesh and for the international agencies, but also of the local NGO’s, it’s precisely to guarantee that at the same time we address the needs of those who are displaced but we minimise the impacts that those massive displacements of people have in those host communities”, said Antonio Vitorino, Director-General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
The 2019 Joint Response Plan is the third joint humanitarian appeal and builds on achievements made so far in order to further stabilize the situation of Rohingya refugees.
The IOM Director-General stressed that “there are limits for humanitarian assistance, and the situation requires a sustainable definite solution that will require political will and to a large extent the prospect that we all aim is to guarantee safe, dignified return of the Rohingya to the Rakhine region and that lies to a large extend in the hands of the Myanmar authorities. So we appeal for the necessary political will to be mobilised so that a definite solution can be found”.
Over the past 12 months aid agencies have worked to improve the conditions across refugee settlements through the support provided under the 2018 Joint Response Plan. The environmental impact of the influx has been reduced. Furthermore, the prevalence of global acute malnutrition, at emergency levels in late 2017, has now dropped below the emergency threshold, food security has improved, according to UN agencies.
Despite these and other achievements, the Rohingya refugees in an extremely precarious situation, highlighting the importance of sustained support.
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