Shawdesh Desk:

United Nations resident coordinator in Dhaka, Gwyn Lewis, on Sunday said that the situation inside Myanmar was very difficult and it was not a good time for Rohingya repatriation.

She was speaking to reporters after her meeting with foreign minister Hasan Mahmud at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The UNRC said that repatriation was a priority for Bangladesh, and Rohingyas as well as Bangladesh had agreed on their safe and dignified return to Myanmar.

In the meeting, they discussed financing issues for the Rohingyas and security issues both inside Myanmar and Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.

‘We have a shortage of financing,’ she said.

Earlier, the United Nations called for solidarity and increased funding for the Rohingyas and their host communities in Cox’s Bazar.

‘Rohingyas need our solidarity, and the host communities need our solidarity. We need increased funding for all of that,’ spokesperson for the UN secretary-general Stephane Dujarric has told reporters at a regular media briefing in New York recently.

He said no Rohingya should be repatriated against their will.

‘It needs to be done voluntarily and in a manner that preserves their dignity and their safety,’ said the spokesperson.

‘It is clear for us that the situation in Myanmar currently does not meet the necessary requirements. What we do need is increased global solidarity for those communities that are hosting Rohingyas generously, like the community in Cox’s Bazar, which the secretary-general has visited,’ Dujarric said.