Advocacy Letter to Deputy Secretary of State Biegun and Acting USAID Administrator Barsa Regarding Rohingya Refugees
In advance of the virtual donor conference on Rohingya refugees – jointly hosted by the United States, United Kingdom, the European Union, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees – Amnesty International USA’s Senior Policy Advisor, Ryan Mace, sent the below letter to Deputy Secretary of State Edward Biegun and Acting U.S. Agency for International Administrator John Barsa, who are to make remarks at the start of the conference. The letter urges the U.S Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development and U.S. Government to:
- Work with Bangladesh’s government to develop rights-respecting policies that outline a framework of representation for Rohingya refugees, and that protects their human rights to education, healthcare, justice, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and movement;
- Offer technical assistance and expertise in developing a policy that ensures refugee representation;
- Continue and increase international humanitarian aid, cooperation, and assistance, particularly in the areas of education, vocational training and livelihood for both Rohingya refugees and Bangladesh’s host community who has been affected by the influx of refugees;
- Ensure that any international aid, development projects or financial assistance in Rakhine State are explicitly and specifically contingent on non-discrimination, non-segregation and equality, and that Myanmar takes immediate action to cease ongoing human rights violations against the Rohingya community and other minorities across the country and prevents the destruction of evidence of those violations;
- Provide international cooperation, technical, and financial assistance to countries in the South and South East Asia regions for search and rescue operations and for the provision of immediate and longer-term needs of refugees and migrants in the region.