Dhaka [Bangladesh], March 14: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived in Dhaka on Thursday for a four-day visit aimed at discussing solutions to the Rohingya crisis with Bangladeshi officials.
Guterres was welcomed at Dhaka airport in the evening by the Bangladeshi government's foreign affairs adviser, Touhid Hossain.
As part of his visit, the UN chief is expected to travel on Friday to Cox's Bazar, a south-eastern district that currently hosts over 1 million Rohingya refugees, who live in overcrowded camps after escaping violence in neighbouring Myanmar.
Guterres, along with Yunus, is set to meet some of the refugees and participate in an iftar, the evening meal that breaks Muslims' fast during the month of Ramadan, along with approximately 100,000 Rohingya Muslims, according to Shafiqul Alam, an official from the chief adviser's press wing.
The visit underscores the urgency of addressing the plight of Rohingya refugees who fled persecution in Myanmar, Alam told reporters on Wednesday.
"We firmly believe it will help bring international attention to the Rohingya crisis and strengthen efforts for a resolution," he said.
Guterres' visit comes at a time when humanitarian aid for the Rohingya population has declined significantly.
The World Food Programme (WFP), the UN's food assistance wing, recently issued a warning about severe funding shortages, which are putting food aid for the refugees at risk.
Without immediate financial support, monthly rations will be cut in half from $12.50 to just $6 per person, as the refugees prepare to observe the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan, the agency said in a statement earlier this month.
The WFP said it urgently needs $15 million to maintain full rations for April and $81 million to sustain operations through the end of 2025. Bangladesh hosts around 1.1 million Rohingya refugees, including more than 750,000 who crossed the border following a military crackdown in Myanmar in August 2017.
Source: Qatar Tribune
