UN Security Council delegates visit Konarpara Rohingya refugee camp

A delegation from the UN Security Council has arrived at the Konarpara Rohingya refugee camp in Bandarban’s Naikhongchari to see their plight first-hand.

The delegation arrived at the Rohingya camp on the zero line in Konarpara around 9am, said Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner Md Kamal Hossain.

They are scheduled to proceed to the Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhiya afterwards to hear direct accounts of the Rohingyas’ situation.

The delegation is to hold a press brief at the Kutupalong camp after they complete their tour.

The 40-member delegation, which includes 15 officials from the Security Council, arrived in Cox’s Bazar around 4:30pm on Saturday aboard a flight from Kuwait. Permanent UN Representative from Peru Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, who presides over the Security Council during the month of April, leads the delegation.

Members of the delegation met with officials from various UN bodies, the Rohingya Refugee Repatriation Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday night at the Royal Tulip hotel in Inani.

Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam presented them with an overall idea of the Rohingya crisis at the meeting.

This is the first UN Security Council delegation to visit the camps since Bangladesh experienced a massive influx of Rohingya refugees last August.

The delegation is to set off for Dhaka after they complete their inspection of the refugee camp, said Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner Md Kamal Hossain.

Over 700,000 Rohingyas have crossed the border from Myanmar and sought refuge in Bangladesh following a Myanmar military crackdown in the border state of Rakhine.