In 2017, Rohingya refugees begging for food at the Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh.
Reuters
On October 17th, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Afreen Akhter visited Cox's Bazar, where most of the Rohingya refugee camps are located, and met with Bangladeshi officials, RFA's sister news agency Benar News reported that when they met with some Rohingya refugees with the United Nations and international agencies, they asked for more food aid for the Rohingya refugees.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Afreen Akhter, who met with the Rohingya refugees, said in a meeting with reporters after meeting with officials in Cox's Bazar that he witnessed the very bad conditions in the Rohingya refugee camps.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Afreen Akhter visited the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on October 17, 2023. (Photo: UNHCR in Bangladesh)
On the other hand, he emphasized that the United States is the country that is helping the Rohingya refugees the most.
"The Burmese military council does not allow the returning Rohingyas to resettle in the villages they want and does not allow aid agencies to enter, so the situation is not suitable for the Rohingyas to return home," Afreen Akhter , US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Since the Rohingya fled to Bangladesh in 2017, Humanitarian aid from the United States has now reached 2.2 billion dollars. About the fact that the aid donations of the United States are much more than those of other countries. Regarding the issue of refugees returning home, their voluntary It is set to return home only when there is a dignified and safe situation. Afreen Akhter told reporters that the Burmese military council did not allow returning Rohingyas to resettle in the villages they wanted, and did not allow aid agencies to enter, so the conditions were not yet suitable for the Rohingyas to return home.
Daw Nua Jahan, a Rohingya refugee who participated in the meeting with the Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister, said that they have seven family members. He told Benar News that because of the reduction in food aid, his family members are starving.
The World Food Program (WFP) has reduced the amount of food aid it provides to the Rohingya twice this year, and currently only provides $8 per Rohingya per month.
Right now, many Rohingya from the refugee camp are trying to find jobs outside the camp. Those who tried to go out were arrested by the police. Some try to earn money through various illegal activities. The reason is because there is not enough food in the camp, said Daw Nua Jahan, a Rohingya refugee.
The Bangladeshi government does not allow Rohingya refugees to go outside the camp to work, so the refugees are mainly dependent on international aid. International agencies refused to allow them to work outside the camp.
Majmeela Akta, a 25-year-old pregnant girl from Ukharia refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, said she was worried about her unborn child.
I am pregnant. You need to eat nutritious food. He told Benar News that now he does not get any nutritious food.
The United States, including the return of Rohingya refugees, Bangladesh to come up with a long-term solution We will work in cooperation with international organizations. In the short term, Afreen Akhter said that humanitarian aid will continue to be provided to refugees.
At the same time, Filippo Grandi, head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is urging international donors to pledge to help the Rohingya refugees, according to AFP news.
This refugee crisis should not be forgotten. If contributions decrease, "We will suffer," he said at a UNHCR regional meeting in Bangkok last Tuesday.
At a meeting in Bangkok last Tuesday, Benar News reported that there were no new commitments except for the UK pledging to donate an additional $5.5 million.
According to the United Nations, the United States needs more than 875 million dollars to provide aid to the Rohingya this year, but only 42 percent of this need has been received.
The EU has taken important steps to ban forced labor products
On the evening of October 16, the European Parliament's Internal Market Committee and International Trade Committee voted to approve a draft law aimed at preventing forced labor products from entering the EU market.
This proposal, which directly affects the products imported to the European market and the Uyghur forced labor, was accepted with 66 votes in favor, 10 abstentions and zero votes against.
At a special press conference held on Tuesday, October 17, Mrs. Samira Rafala, one of the drafters of the proposal, spoke and described the loud approval of the proposal as a historic event.
Ms. Samira began her speech with the forced labor faced by Uyghurs and mentioned the latest evidence of oppression. "We are all shocked by the images and reports of the Chinese government's horrific treatment of Uyghurs," he said. "Just yesterday, the organization 'Illegal Ocean Project' revealed that Uighurs are being exploited in China's fishing grounds on a large scale, and these seafood products are being exported to many countries, including my country, the Netherlands."
He stressed the need to deal with forced labor, which is a serious violation of human rights, and that these products should be removed from the EU market.
It appears that the proposal would provide the EU with a framework to investigate the presence of forced labor in companies' supply chains and ban the import and export of forced labor products. Forced labor products that have already entered the European market will be collected, donated or destroyed.
Lawmakers in the voting committee also made some amendments to the provision, which would include identifying areas and sectors that are at "high risk" of the existence of forced labor. In addition, companies operating in such regions and sectors are subject to debarment before the authorities inspect their products, and the companies themselves have to prove that their supply chains are free of forced labor. Lawmakers also recommended that products banned from the market because of forced labor should not be put back on the market until the company can prove it no longer has ties to those supply chains.
At the press conference, Ms. Maria-Manuel Leito-Marc, one of the drafters of the draft, noted that the draft draft is the main target of the product. One of the reporters asked how the proposal would affect solar energy products, noting that one of the main products entering the European market, calendars and polysicons, are produced in Uyghur countries, and that there is ample evidence that this involves the oppression of Uyghurs.
Samira Rafala replied: "The amendment to the proposal to ban areas and products with high probability of forced labor without inspection will make it easier to target such products. In recent days, when products and sectors with high risk of forced labor pollution are determined, the products that come at the cost of violating the rights of Uyghurs must be the same. He expressed his belief that he will be on the list.
Maria-Manuel Leito-Marc, one of the drafters of the proposal at the press conference, added, "Another purpose of the proposal to deal with forced labor products is to protect companies from unfair competition, and to create fair competition by banning companies that use forced labor." "It will happen."
It turns out that the adoption of the above proposal is one of the important steps to ban products made from modern slavery in the EU market and encourage companies to stay away from forced labor.
After the U.S. government enacted a law to combat Uyghur forced labor, there were calls for the European Union to enact a similar law. Some EU parliamentarians and international human rights organizations, as well as the US government, have made diplomatic efforts to get the EU to deal with forced labor in one of the world's most important markets.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, signed by US President Joe Biden on December 23, 2021, will be officially enforced by US Customs and Border Protection on June 21, 2022.
It turns out that the EU's Internal Market Committee and the International Trade Committee voted to approve the proposal, which will be submitted to the EU Council for approval in the coming days, and the final version will be discussed.