22 May 2019
Filippo Grandi arrives at Sittwe Airport on Monday. Photo - EPA
Filippo Grandi, chief of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, visited refugee camps in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships on Tuesday to check on their conditions and assess their needs.
Grandi talked with refugees in Yan Aung Myay camp in Buthidaung and was scheduled to meet with state and district officials.
He arrived in Myanmar on Monday for a five-day visit. It is his first visit since August 2017, when the government launched a massive crackdown on the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which caused over 750,000 Muslims to flee northern Rakhine to Bangladesh.
This week’s visit comes after his visit to Rakhine Muslim refugee camps in Bangladesh in April.
In the course of his stay in Myanmar, Grandi will follow up on a range of issues raised by the refugees and will discuss Myanmar’s efforts to find a comprehensive and durable solution to the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine.
He went to two camps in Buthidaung, and Hpa Wutt Chaung village and Pantawpyin camp in Maungdaw.
“They discussed with district administrative officers how to coordinate in supporting Rakhine refugees, nothing special,” said Maungdaw administrator U Saw Aung.
“They met with refugees who fled the fighting between the Arakan Army and Tatmadaw (military). They asked about the difficulties of the refugees, especially in the Muslim camp,” he added.
The monk U Eai Wunttha, who is the head of Yan Aung Myay, said that they discussed the possibility of Rakhine refugees returning to their homes after the clashes.
“They asked the refugees and me about our needs,” he added.
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