The United Nation’s special rapporteur said Monday that Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are at risk of becoming “the new Palestinians”.
He also stressed the urgent need to grant the nearly 1 million individuals residing in overcrowded camps in Cox's Bazar the right to work in their host country.
Olivier De Schutter, who recently visited Cox's Bazar described the conditions of Rohingyas as “absolutely terrible”. He emphasized that relying on dwindling international aid was not a sustainable solution.
The majority of the refugees, who escaped deadly crackdowns by the Myanmar military in 2017, are isolated from the local population and reside in filthy, claustrophobic shelters. International funders are becoming more preoccupied by problems in other countries, according to De Shutter, despite the fact that the brutality against the Rohingya sparked anger throughout the world more than five years ago and resulted in a genocide lawsuit at the UN's highest court.
"People spend their days in complete idleness. As a result, gender-based violence is mounting. Security in the camps is very problematic, with armed gangs controlling drug trafficking across the border of Myanmar, leading to exchange of fire of gangs in the evening," said De Schutter to the Guardian after a recent visit to Cox’s Bazar.
