APHR Draws Attention to Dire Needs in Camps; Demands Urgent Collective Action from ASEAN

The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) mission to Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar extends its gratitude to the Government of Bangladesh for hosting and supporting the Rohingya community despite enormous challenges.

APHR also expresses its gratitude to Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus for a productive meeting with the delegation where findings and recommendations for a sustainable solution to the crisis were discussed. The dialogue was a critical step in ensuring the voices of the Rohingya and the concerns of the host community are heard at the highest levels of the Bangladeshi government.

The mission follows up on key findings from a January 2018 APHR fact-finding segment and aims to urgently inform key duty-bearers, particularly ASEAN and its member states, of the imminent food shortage in the refugee camps, among other challenges to their living conditions.

The Rohingya crisis is not a distant issue. It is an ASEAN issue, and if the regional bloc continues its inaction, the costs will be high: human trafficking, arms and drug smuggling, including an influx of refugees that would continue to threaten stability across the region.

To prompt a collective response guided by the principle of burden-sharing, APHR calls for the creation of an ASEAN platform on the Rohingya issue, which would enable high-level discussions and the development of a unified action plan reflecting the shared responsibility of all member states.

While on the ground, APHR reasserts that ASEAN ignored the root of the crisis; it is already at a critical stage. The World Food Programme in fact warned that food rations will run out after November 2025 unless 17 million USD per month is secured.

APHR therefore urges the immediate creation of an ASEAN Humanitarian Fund to deliver life-saving support and prevent mass hunger among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Ensuring access to education is paramount in safeguarding the foundations for safe, voluntary and sustainable repatriation. For that reason, APHR calls on ASEAN to partner with Bangladesh to guarantee access to accredited schooling and vocational training for Rohingya children and youth.

In this light, APHR commends the Philippine Government for providing scholarships and higher education opportunities to Rohingya students that other ASEAN member states can follow suit.

To conclude, the mission underscores the required commitment of ASEAN to regional stability and human rights. APHR urges the international community, humanitarian actors, Southeast Asian governments to act with urgency and compassion to address the humanitarian needs and political complexities of the Rohingya crisis.

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