To Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Letter Dated: 9th September 2015; re: Situation of Rohingya/Bengali refugees in the Kutupalong and Nayapara Camps in Bangladesh.Dear Prime Minister Sharif, I am U Ne Oo, a Burmese exile and human rights activist living in Sydney. I arrived Australia in 1988 as Colombo Plan scholar to do Doctorate degree in Physics. I was awarded Ph.D. degree by the University of Adelaide in 1993 and, in the same year, the Australian Government had granted me the refugee status. I am now working in Sydney as a sub-contract cleaner.
As a human rights activists in Australia, I have been engaged in the campaigns for the citizenship rights of Rohingya/Bengali in Burma since 1992, also with the objective to find lasting solutions for those who are displaced. Recently, I have been heartened by the attentions given to the plights of the Rohingya/Bengali minority in Burma by the Government and Parliament of Pakistan and, feel much encouraged that the Prime Minister will raise this issue at the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly. Notably, Burma and Pakistan had had a very close co-operations on this issue especially after Burma gaining her independence in 1948. In this connection, I enclosed the following three documents relating with the history of Rohingya/Bengali community in Burma for your information:
1. Snapshots of Community in 1960s (PDF)
2. Profile of Community (PDF)
3. Migration After First Anglo-Burman War (PDF)
I especially would like to draw your kind attentions to the long-standing case-load of Rohingya/Bengali refugees who have been in Kutupalong and Nayarapa Camps in Bangladesh. They have been under the care of UNHCR since 1992 and, as things stand, the Burmese Government is unlikely to admit to the repatriation for most of the camp residents. The Government of Bangladesh, on the one hand, has been unwilling to offer them local integration. The UNHCR to my knowledge had attempted to abandon these camps at least twice in last 23 years. I therefore appeal the Government and Parliament of Pakistan to look into the possibility for assisting these residents to get permanent settlements.
As I have been working as cleaner in Sydney and independently promoting for the human rights of the displaced people, I certainly have no authoritative capacity whatsoever to persuade the Governments of Burma and Bangladesh, nor to the UNHCR, on that matter. However, it is inevitable that the UNHCR will have to end the operation of these two camps sooner and, that, I fear the camp residents may be drawn into great trouble in foreseeable future. As such, I am compelled to ask you for your kind consideration regarding with these Rohingya refugees in this two camps.
Once again, I express my sincere thanks to the Government and Parliament of Pakistan regarding your attentions given to the plights of Rohingyas in Burma. You and the People of Pakistan continuing kind supports to the Rohingya/Bengali in Burma have been greatly appreciated.
Yours respectfully and sincerely,
(U Ne Oo)
Copy:
1.Mr. Antonio Guterres, High Commissioner for Refugees, Fax: +41-22-739-7377
2.Professor Yanghee Lee, Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Myanmar
3.John Kerry, US Secretary of State, US Dept. of State, c/o US Embassy, Canberra.
ADDRESS OF PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER
The Hon. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
The Secretariat
44000 Constitutional Avenue
Islamabad
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Email: info@pmo.gov.pk
DOCUMENTS:
1. Snapshots of Community in 1960s (PDF)
http://www.netipr.org/policy/downloads/snapshot-of-community-1960s.pdf
2. Profile of Community (PDF)
http://www.netipr.org/policy/downloads/profile-of-community.pdf
3. Migration After First Anglo-Burman War (PDF)
http://www.netipr.org/policy/downloads/arakan-migration-after-1824.pdf