UNHCR chief urges unity in Myanmar’s Rakhine state
Filippo Grandi meets with communities in restive Rakhine state to better understand their needs and challenges.
MAUNGDAW, Myanmar – The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has appealed to communities in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state to unite in the face of fear, mistrust and underdevelopment.
On his first official visit to South-East Asia, Grandi met with displaced people, local communities and the authorities in Sittwe and Maungdaw townships to better understand their needs and challenges.
Last October, an estimated 20,000 people were displaced around Maungdaw in a security operation prompted by attacks on several border guard posts. Most have returned home but some are still hosted by local villagers pending agreement on return and relocation sites. Around Sittwe, 120,000 people remain in camps for internally displaced people after they were uprooted by inter-communal violence in 2012.
Masoota Hatu has lived in Sittwe’s Dar Paing camp for five years, facing health problems that she cannot afford to treat. Only two of her four children are in school as there is no secondary school in the camp.
“We need to move from survival to real life with opportunities.”
“It’s very difficult,” the 55-year-old widow told Grandi. “What I want most is to go back to my village so that our lives can improve.”
Like many Muslims in Rakhine state, stateless people like her cannot move freely without authorization and cannot access basic services like healthcare, education and their livelihoods easily.
“These people deserve a better future than the present conditions of extreme poverty, deprivation and isolation. We need to move from survival to real life with opportunities,” said the High Commissioner. “This is an extremely complex situation but it’s possible to work towards solutions.”
In March, an interim report by the government-appointed Advisory Commission for Rakhine State recommended steps to end displacement and promote inter-communal dialogue. The government has endorsed the report and agreed to implement these recommendations.