Interim government chief adviser professor Muhammad Yunus sought United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi’s support for the ‘dignified and voluntary’ return of more than one million Rohingya people, currently living in Bangladesh, to their homeland in Myanmar.
High commissioner Grandi had a conversation with professor Yunus over the phone on Monday to congratulate him on his assumption of the leadership of the interim government of Bangladesh.
During the call, the UNHCR chief praised professor Yunus, saying that he had taken up ‘an incredible task’ to rebuild Bangladesh, said the chief adviser’s press wing.
Grandi requested the chief adviser to attend a meeting on the Rohingya crisis on the side-lines of the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting in New York of USA.
The UNHCR chief informed Yunus that he planned to visit Bangladesh in October.
The two leaders discussed the Rohingya issue, including about thousands of people, who have been displaced by the ongoing conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
Professor Yunus also sought assistance from the UN refugee agency for building a better future for Rohingya children, who are growing up inside the Bangladesh camps.
On August 27, the UNHCR welcomed the renewed commitment to the refugees, made by professor Yunus, and they called for continued solidarity from the international community through consistent financial support so that Rohingya refugees could eventually be repatriated to Myanmar, with safety, dignity and full rights.
In 2024, humanitarian agencies appealed for $852 million to assist some 1.35 million people, including Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshis in surrounding communities. This appeal remained inadequately funded, according to UNHCR.
On 25 August 2017, some 700,000 Rohingya men, women and children were forced to flee Myanmar and seek protection in Bangladesh.