Bangladesh urges UN to create safe zones in Rakhine state

A Rohingya woman breaks down after a fight erupted during food distribution by local volunteers at Kutupalong, Bangladesh, on Friday. (AP)

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh: Bangladesh has proposed the setting up of safe zones in Myanmar’s Rakhine State to facilitate the return of displaced Rohingya Muslims, said a senior member of the advisory council of the ruling Bangladesh Awami League.
Such zones should be under the supervision of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said Mohammad Zamir, who is also a former ambassador.
“Bangladesh should push the UN to pass a resolution over the suffering of the uprooted Rohingya,” he added.
“America, China, Russia, India and other countries should come forward with a positive mindset in this regard.”
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Minister for Disaster and Relief Management Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya on Saturday said the government is planning to allot 2,000 acres of land in Cox’s Bazar “to accommodate the recent influx of Rohingya refugees.”
During a visit to Teknaf Thana refugee camp, he added that the government is doing its best to address the humanitarian crisis facing the refugees.
Khaled Mahmud, a district magistrate in Cox’s Bazar, said the government is preparing a “biometric database of all the Rohingya refugees who’ve entered Bangladesh.”
The fingerprints of all refugees will be collected, and the database will facilitate relief work and humanitarian aid, he added.
Zamir said the registration process should be coordinated with the UNHCR, the IOM and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), “because Myanmar might refuse to accept these people in future” by claiming they did not come from Rakhine.
Meanwhile, Washington has condemned Myanmar for “atrocities” committed by its army and border police against its Rohingya minority. The US Senate demanded that Myanmar allow the entry of UN observers.