The United Nations has said the verification process of Rohingyas in Bangladesh will help to find solutions for the roughly 900,000 Rohingyas who have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
“Ultimately, it is hoped the exercise will help to find solutions for the Rohingyas,” Deputy Spokesman for the UN Secretary General Farhan Haq told reporters at a regular briefing at UN headquarters on Friday.
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, began verifying Rohingyas in Bangladesh in tandem with the Government of Bangladesh.
The six month process will help consolidate a unified database for the purposes of protection, identity management, documentation, provision of aid, and population statistics, Farhan said.
Most of these people – well over 700,000 – fled since last August in what was one of the largest and fastest growing refugee emergencies in the region in decades.
“Biometric data, including eye scans and fingerprints as well as photographs, are being used to confirm individual identities for all refugees over the age of 12,” he said.
At the end of the process, refugees are provided with new identity cards and for many of the refugees, this will mark the first time they have possessed an individual identity document, he said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim recently visited Rohingya camps in Bangladesh.
Farhan said the secretary general, during his Bangladesh visit, touched on a wide range of topics with his interlocutors.
Earlier, the UNHCR office in Dhaka said they are working jointly with the government of Bangladesh to conduct a verification exercise for the identity management and documentation of Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar.
The credit card-sized plastic ID, containing a number of anti-fraud features, is issued jointly by Bangladesh government and UNHCR and will provide protection and access to assistance in Bangladesh.
“This exercise is a major step forward to establish the legal identities of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar,” said Kevin J Allen, UNHCR head of operations in Cox’s Bazar.
“It makes clear that the Rohingya exist, that their rights must be respected and that we are committed to laying the foundations for solutions.”
The exercise will involve around 150 UNHCR and partner staff as well as government officials and community mobilizers.
It will cover all of the refugees previously registered by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), it said.
“This exercise will help the government and other agencies to better plan our assistance, avoid duplication of services, and ensure that all registered families receive help,” said Mohammad Abul Kalam of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner of Bangladesh.
“It will also contribute to finding solutions,” he added.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister’s special envoy to Myanmar Bob Rae will arrive in Bangladesh on Sunday to further discuss the Rohingya issue, an official told UNB.
The envoy visited Bangladesh in May and met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Toronto during her visit to Canada in June.
During his Bangladesh visit, Bob Rae said those who are liable for breach of international law, including crime against humanity, should be brought to justice.
On the other hand, UN Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener will arrive in Dhaka on July 12 on a three-day visit to see Rohingya situation in Bangladesh.
This is going to be her maiden visit to Bangladesh since her appointment by the UN Secretary General on April 26.
Burgener, who visited Myanmar last month, is likely to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali apart from her other engagements.
The UN envoy will also visit Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar and meet the Rohingyas, said a foreign ministry source.
