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DHAKA, Bangladesh — The United Nations is discussing the possibility of a humanitarian aid corridor to Myanmar from Bangladesh in an effort to create equitable conditions for Rohingya refugees to eventually return, the U.N. chief said in Dhaka on Saturday.
However, the Rohingya refugees sheltering in Bangladesh could not make and immediate, “dignified return to their homeland in Myanmar’s Rakhine state amid the continued fighting there, added U.N. Secretary General António Guterres at a media briefing.
“We need to intensify the humanitarian aid inside Myanmar to create a condition for that return to be successful,” Guterres said on the penultimate day of his four-day visit to Bangladesh.
Setting up a humanitarian aid channel “is obviously a matter that would require authorization and cooperation,” he said without further specifying.
Humanitarian corridors are designated and secure routes that allow for the safe passage of humanitarian relief, according to Southeast Asian NGO Fortify Rights.
The NGO said this week that the Bangladesh government and the rebel Arakan Army comprising ethnic Rakhine should immediately facilitate humanitarian aid and cross-border trade to reach war-affected civilians the state.
“The crisis in Myanmar demands urgent global attention and action,” said Ejaz Min Khant in a statement Wednesday.
“A humanitarian corridor between Myanmar and Bangladesh would be a lifeline for civilians impacted by the conflict.”
The statement said Bangladesh should also lift restrictions on border trade with Myanmar “to help ease access to basic commodities for civilians in Rakhine state.”
The NGO noted that Bangladesh’s interim leader, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus had said in an interview aired earlier this month on Sky News that his government was in ongoing negotiations with the Arakan Army to create a “safe zone” for Rohingya refugees to return to Rakhine.
Bangladesh’s Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain, who also spoke at the joint media briefing, said the establishment of a humanitarian channel was not discussed with the U.N. chief during his visit.
“This is much more of an operational matter, which we will of course deal [on] with the local offices of the U.N.,” Hossain said.
Nearly a million Rohingya, a persecuted minority Muslim community in Myanmar, live in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh.
Almost 800,000 of them crossed into neighboring Bangladesh to flee a deadly Myanmar military crackdown in 2017.
Their return to Rakhine has been prolonged after civil war broke out in Myanmar following the military coup of February 2021.
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U.N. human rights experts had said on Thursday that the Myanmar junta had not been allowing in relief supplies, with the situation “particularly critical in Rakhine,” which is home to the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities.
Rakhine State was “on the brink of famine,” with two million people at risk of starvation, the statement added citing another U.N. agency.
Meanwhile, heavy fighting continues in Rakhine between the Myanmar military and the rebel Arakan Army, Guterres said on Saturday.
“There is a consensus that it would be extremely difficult in such a situation for an immediate and dignified return of the Rohingya,” he told the mrdia in Dhaka on Saturday.
Guterres further noted that in the past, the relationship between the ethnic Rakhine and the Rohingya has not been an easy one.
“So I think it is important to engage with the Arakan Army in order for ensure full respect of the rights of the Rohingya population in Rakhine,” the U.N. chief said.
The Arakan Army founded in 2009 is fighting to “liberate” Rakhine towards its goal of self-determination. It has made significant gains over the past year to root out the military and now controls a majority of Rakhine’s townships, reported radio Free Asia, a news service affiliated with BenarNews.
Comprising mainly Rakhine Buddhists, the Arakan Army claimed it respects the rights of Rohingya. But experts have said there was plenty of evidence that the Arakan Army carried out mass arson attacks on Rohingya villages in May and August last year.
Guterres again made an impassioned plea to donor nations for more humanitarian aid for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, whose food ration is set to be cut by more than half starting next month due to a funds shortage.
“With the announced cuts in financial assistance, we are facing the dramatic risk of having only 40% in 2025 of the resources available for humanitarian aid in 2024,” he said.
“This would have terrible consequences starting with the drastic reduction of food rations. That would be an unmitigated disaster. People will suffer and people will die.”
He said that by offering the Rohingya refuge, Bangladesh had shown its humanitarian spirit.
“By offering Rohingya refugees sanctuary, Bangladesh has demonstrated solidarity and human dignity, often at significant social, environmental and economic cost,” he said.
“The world must not take this generosity for granted.”
BenarNews is an online news organization affiliated with Radio Free Asia.