A press conference was held following the Workshop on Review of the Implementations on Rakhine State in Yangon yesterday.
It was attended by Union Minister of the Office of the State Counsellor U Kyaw Tint Swe, departmental officials, members of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State and Advisory Board, representatives of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management-AHA Centre, diplomats and representatives from the UN agencies and local and foreign media.
The press conference began with a statement by Dr. Win Myat Aye, Chairman of the Committee for Implementing the Recommendations on Rakhine State and Union Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.
“The implementation of the recommendations is stagnant because of the additional conflict caused by AA; to address these insecurity issues, heightened security is needed to prevent both ARSA and AA” said Dr. Win Myat Aye.
“That the best way forward is to implement the bilateral agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh as has been done previously successfully,” said Dr. Win Myat Aye.
“Government should step up its communications effort to disseminate information widely including to the international community. In this regard, a mechanism is needed to be developed to tackle disinformation,” he added.
“There are challenges to UEHRD i.e sustainability, be it financial or political sustainability beyond 2020. But we are trying to overcome all the difficulties for sustainability. UEHRD cannot be for short term. It must be for long term. We need the assistance from other INGOs. The development of Rakhine state must be a national task,” said Dr. Win Myat Aye.
Hon. Lord Darzi of Denham, member of the Advisory Board of the Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State
“The challenges in Rakhine had been intensified since the initial publication of the report. It is my view that some important steps had been taken. These include clear commitment from the leadership, attention paid for further economic development from Rakhine and significant effort to expand access to both health care and education of both communities,” said Hon. Lord Darzi of Denham, member of the Advisory Board of the Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on Rakhine State.
“We discussed through the two days how the government can use its initial progress in addressing those recommendations to build momentum toward meeting of the recommendations. Continued development and expanded access to the education come from the basics. Renewed freedom of movement, and expanded access to livelihood and then pave the way to improve cohesion and reconciliation. Initial progress and bringing community back together and ensuring government commitment to facilitate the change will help forge the trust,” he added.
“We really need to turn this (dialogue) on both within Myanmar and more importantly between international community and Myanmar towards securing a lasting peace in Rakhine and the safe return of the refugee whose desperate plight continues. This is essential to build on today’s progress so that all of its people can live together with dignity and the hope of a better tomorrow,” said Lord Darzi of Denham.
Mr. Arnel Capili, Deputy Executive Director of the AHA Centre
Afterwards, Mr. Arnel Capili, Deputy Executive Director of the AHA Centre, said ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management-AHA Centre gathered all the interviews focused group discussion and would submit the completed report to the Union Minister for Social Welfare Relief and Resettlement. “What we have seen there is that the government of Myanmar has done a lot of things. We have seen everything is in place.
But there are still a lot of rooms for improvement. ASEAN as a regional body is ready to stand and support our friend and family member. And we will stand ready to be able to provide more assistance to the government of Myanmar,” said Mr. Arnel Capili.
Afterwards, Dr. Win Myat Aye, Rt. Hon. Lord Darzi of Denham and Mr. Arnel Capili replied the questions raised by the journalists.
Union Minister Dr. Win Myat Aye answered the question on if the scheme to bring back the displaced persons from the neighbouring country was delayed, if the government had a plan to hold a forum inviting representatives from local Islamic communities, from Rakhine communities and from Islamic religious organizations in foreign countries.
He also replied to the question about one year extension for return of displaced people.
Rt. Hon. Lord Darzi of Denham also answered questions raised by journalists.
Union Minister Dr. Win Myat Aye answered the question on human rights situation in Rakhine State.—Win Sandi (Translated by GNLM)
