Delhi is yet to respond to the repeated requests from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Professor Yanghee Lee to visit India that houses around 40,000 Rohingyas from the Rakhine state.
“No reply yet,” Professor Lee told the Dhaka Tribune at a press briefing in a Dhaka hotel on Friday evening.
The press conference was arranged following her visit to Bangladesh from January 19 to January 25 to visit the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char Island.
She had expressed concern over the deportation of Rohingyas from Saudi Arabia and pushing of Rohingyas into Bangladesh by India and urged to ensure their protection terming them as the world’s most persecuted community from Myanmar.
Also Read- Dhaka displeased but yet to raise Rohingya pushback issue with Delhi
The requests of the UN Special Rapporteur to visit India to see the conditions of the Rohingyas have long been pending with the government in Delhi.
“I regret to inform the Council that I received no reply from the Government of India to my request to visit New Delhi, Mizoram and the State of Jammu and Kashmir in order to meet the refugees from Myanmar who are present in India,” Professor Lee said while updating the 38th session of the Human Rights Council on June 27, 2018.
“It is imperative that member states respect the mandates established by this Council and provide timely and reasonable answers to requests made by Special Procedures mandate holders to effectively discharge their mandates,” she said.
On July 8, 2018, Professor Lee, who is barred from visiting Myanmar by the government in Naypyitaw, told the press conference that she had sought India’s permission repeatedly to visit New Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Mizoram, where thousands of Rohingyas live, but the Indian government is yet to respond.
“I requested many times but they did not respond. I don’t know why they didn’t respond with yes or no,” she said.
The arrival of at least 1,300 Rohingya Muslims to the already burdened Bangladesh has recently struck newspaper headlines.
