UNSC to send mission to Iraq, Bangladesh, Myanmar

The Security Council will send a mission to Iraq, Bangladesh, and Myanmar from April 26 to May 2, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres hoping the trip will refocus the attention of the international community on the plight of the Rohingya refugees, his spokesperson has said.

Guterres' spokesperson Stphane Dujarric said in a statement that members of the Security Council have agreed to send a mission to Iraq, Bangladesh, and Myanmar during the period from April 26 to May 2.

Peru, President of the Security Council for the month of April, Kuwait, and the United States of America will co-lead the visit to Iraq.

 

Peru, Kuwait, and the United Kingdom will co-lead the visit to Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Dujarric told reporters at the daily press briefing yesterday that through the trips, the UN hopes that the Council will show unity on the trip.

"It will help improve the situation in Myanmar, in terms of helping the Government implement the Annan...the conclusions of the (Kofi) Annan panel," he said referring to the panel, headed by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that has outlined long-term solutions to help end the violence and marginalisation for all communities in Rakhine.

Dujarric said the UN hopes that the visits will help "refocus the attention of the international community on the plight of the Rohingya refugees who have fled to Bangladesh and the continuous need to fund the humanitarian operations."

Since August 2017, nearly 700,000 minority Muslim Rohingyas have fled violence in Myanmar across the border into Bangaldesh's Cox's Bazar, joining several hundred thousand more that were already settled there in overcrowded camps.

Last week, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said about 150,000 Rohingya refugees, who fled from Myanmar into crowded camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar are living in flood-prone areas and must be relocated ahead of the coming rainy season.