3 Nobel Laureates to visit Rohingya camps

Three Nobel Laureates are set to begin their weeklong visit to Bangladesh on Saturday to see the Rohingya situation on the ground.

Nobel Laureates Mairead Maguire (Northern Ireland), Shirin Ebadi (Iran) and Tawakkol Karman (Yemen) will seek to gain a better understanding of the assistance and protection being provided by the Bangladeshi government and local communities, including the challenges they face.

They will also see the role of local and international organisations providing support to Rohingya women in the camps and elsewhere, according to a media release.

The Nobel Women’s Initiative, in partnership with local Bangladeshi women’s organization, Naripokkho, is hosting the delegation to Bangladesh to witness and highlight the situation of the Rohingya refugees and the violence against Rohingya women, including high level of sexual violence. 

The Laureates will spend time in Dhaka and in refugee camps near Cox’s Bazar meeting with female Rohingya refugees, Bangladesh government officials, human rights organisations and Canadian and other diplomats.

The delegation builds on more than a decade of work of the Nobel Women’s Initiative in the region and with women’s rights organisations in Myanmar.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1 million Rohingyas, including around 7 lakh new arrivals since August 25, 2017.

Source: unb