Merkley, Rubio Lead Push to Improve Humanitarian Access and Living Conditions for Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

Statement

Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and FU.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, are leading a bipartisan effort to increase humanitarian access and improve living conditions for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. More than 900,000 Rohingya are currently taking refuge in Bangladesh following a brutal campaign of genocide that the Burmese military have perpetrated against Rohingya Muslims in Burma.

Merkley and Rubio were joined by U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Susan Collins (R-ME), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

"We understand from discussions with numerous stakeholders that limitations on the movements of humanitarian workers and Rohingya volunteers have impeded the delivery of important social services in Cox's Bazar," the senators wrote in a letter to Abul Kalam Abdul Momen, the Bangladeshi Minister of Foreign Affairs. "While we acknowledge the need for caution and some restrictions due to the COVID pandemic and we understand that Bangladesh has recently relaxed some of those restrictions, we want to stress that it remains critical that humanitarian actors and Rohingya volunteers have ongoing access to the camps to ensure that refugees continue to receive basic social services and protections."

"We are also concerned with limitations on some programming, including educational and livelihood opportunities," a "We welcome the Government's steps toward providing Rohingya children with an education in the camps, a sacrosanct right per the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. We urge you to work with UNICEF to revive and expand the pilot of the Myanmar curriculum across all ages and grades to enable UN humanitarian agencies and NGOs, funded by international donors, to provide Rohingya children with formal, accredited education in the camps."

The senators also expressed concern and alarm over reports that refugees have been forcibly relocated to Bhasan Char--an island encampment built to house Rohingya refugees--and have been prohibited from leaving and, in some cases, forcibly returned to Bhasan Char after escaping. The senators urged Bangladesh to allow freedom of movement for refugees; to allow independent monitoring of the relocation process to ensure it is truly voluntary; and to allow the United Nations to conduct a technical assessment of the flood-prone island's habitability. The senators noted that the United States--the largest international donor to the refugee resettlement process in Bangladesh--has prohibited the use of any American funds to support forced relocations to Bhasan Char.

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