Dhaka, July 16, 2020 (BSS) – The United Kingdom (UK) has said Bangladesh continued to play a vital role in hosting a significant number of the Rohingya people, the world’s largest population of stateless people displaced by the actions of the Myanmar army.
“Bangladesh maintained its commitment to the voluntary, safe, and dignified return of the Rohingyas to Myanmar,” according to the UK’s ‘Human Rights and Democracy: The 2019 Foreign and Commonwealth Office’ report released globally on Thursday.
About the Rohingya situation in Bangladesh, it said, there were reports of significant criminality including murders, gender-based violence, abduction, illegal drug trading, and human trafficking in Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar, where approximately 855,000 Rohingya refugees are living.
The Bangladesh government introduced additional police stations, fences around the camps, and limited night-time patrols by mixed security forces, said the report.
To help manage the protracted Rohingya crisis, the UK committed an additional £117 million, delivered through UN agencies and NGOs, prioritising the protection of rights, including essential documentation, child protection, anti-trafficking measures, case management for survivors of abuse and exploitation, and legal assistance services.
The total UK commitment since the influx of Rohingyas in August 2017 stood at £256 million while the British government supported Bangladesh and other partners to enable the presence of Rohingya refugees at the International Court of Justice hearings on Myanmar in
December.