ASEAN Summit: A chance to engage on the Rohingya crisis

TheInetrpreter
Rebecca Barber Sarah Teitt
Published 17 Jun 2020


The regional body has been notably silent on genocide inMyanmar, ducking behind the myth of non-interference.

On 26 June, leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will meet virtually for their 36th semi-annual summit. The meeting is expected to include a focus on the re-opening of borders and economies post-pandemic, as well as discussions about the continuing tensions in the South China Sea and progress against the ASEAN 2015–2025 Community Building Blueprints.

Ex-minister says urgent need for proper mechanisms to address refugees in Malaysia

malaymail 

Saturday, 02 May 2020 BY JERRY CHOONG

Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said the recent backlash against Rohingya refugees by Malaysians indicates the absence of government policies to regularise people who require protection. — Picture by Firdaus Latif

 
KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Former foreign minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar has called for the implementation of a national legal framework to ensure the systematic management of refugees in Malaysia.

He said the recent backlash against Rohingya refugees by Malaysians indicates the absence of government policies to regularise people who require protection.

Japan to extend another $17M for Rohingya in Bangladesh

AA
SM Najmus Sakib
DHAKA, Bangladesh
26.02.2020

Additional funding will be used in management of Rohingya refugee camps and community empowerment for host communities

Japan has decided to extend approximately $17 million as additional support to Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority taking refuge in southeast Bangladesh.

The additional funds will also be used for the betterment of host communities in the town of Cox’s Bazar, the Japanese embassy in Dhaka said Tuesday.

The support includes site management of refugee camps; community empowerment; shelter upgrade; child protection; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities; medical services and training; environmental rehabilitation; life skills and livelihood improvement and nutritional improvement, the statement said.

What will happen to the Rohingya people?

Aljazeera
September 25, 2019

Go home, begs Bangladesh. We can't, lament the Rohingya.

Many Rohingya refugees lost their lifeline to the world this month after the Bangladeshi government blocked their access to mobile phone services. The communication blackout was apparently for security reasons. But it comes soon after efforts to repatriate thousands of Rohingya back to Myanmar failed in August . Overwhelmed with the refugee crisis, Bangladesh is also trying to relocate some Rohingya to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal. But Bhasan Char is prone to cyclones, and refugees fear being stuck there for good.