US delegation to visit Rohingya refugee camps

A 10-member delegation of US congressional staff will visit Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar next week to review conditions and assess programmes funded by Washington, Bangladeshi officials said.

The delegation will visit camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf from August 26 to 28, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Mizanur Rahman told reporters.

Foreign Ministry officials said Noel Daina, a senior legislative assistant in the US Congress, will lead the delegation. Two officials from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, will also join the visit.

The delegation is scheduled to visit six camps in Ukhiya on August 26 and 27 before travelling to two camps in Teknaf on August 28.

Mizanur said the visit was part of regular assessments by US delegations and would focus on the overall situation in the camps as well as the implementation of US-funded humanitarian programmes.

The United States has been the largest international donor to the Rohingya humanitarian response, he said, adding that the delegation would examine how US taxpayers’ money was being used.

“The visit is somewhat like an audit,” Mizanur said. “The delegation members will visit camps where various activities are being carried out with US funding.”

Bangladesh hosts more than one million Rohingya refugees, most of whom live in sprawling camps in Cox’s Bazar.

Around 750,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar for Bangladesh following a military crackdown in Rakhine State that began in August 2017. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were already living in Bangladesh before that influx, while more have crossed the border in subsequent years.

The visit comes as the Rohingya humanitarian response faces persistent funding pressures and uncertainty over the refugees’ prospects for returning to Myanmar.

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