HIGH-LEVEL UNHCR OFFICIAL VISITS TO VIEW PROGRESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 000240 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PREF BG SUBJECT: HIGH-LEVEL UNHCR OFFICIAL VISITS TO VIEW PROGRESS ON ROHINGYA SITUATION Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Geeta Pasi; reason 1.4(d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. The Dhaka office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is continuing to seek a long-term solution for Rohingya refugees living in camps in southeastern Bangladesh. Janet Lim, UNHCR's Asia and Pacific Director, visited Dhaka to discuss long-term options for resolving the Rohingya refugee situation in southeastern Bangladesh. During her visit, she met with senior government officials and visited the two official UNHCR-supported camps near Cox's Bazar that currently shelter approximately 27,000 refugees. UNHCR,s proposed solution calls for a combination of repatriation, resettlement in third countries, and opening up the camps to integrate the remaining population in the local community. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) In a recent meeting with diplomatic missions, UNHCR Asia and Pacific Director Janet Lim discussed UNHCR's three-pronged plan for resolving the Rohingya situation in Bangladesh: repatriation to Burma, resettlement in third countries, and integration. Lim said recent unrest in Burma posed a "huge challenge" to getting that government,s cooperation in accepting repatriation of Rohingyas. In addition, third-country resettlement will likely absorb only a small fraction of the refugees. This leaves the option of integration, or, as UNHCR prefers to call it, "opening up the camps" and blending them into the surrounding communities. ¶3. (C) According to UNHCR, previous Bangladesh governments have adamantly opposed any plan involving integration of the refugees. UNHCR, and some diplomatic missions, believe the current caretaker government might be more amenable to this option and want to develop a strategy for raising it with the government. The UN and other donors, including the United States, are already implementing programs that benefit the communities around the camps, and not just the camps themselves. The UN Resident Coordinator expressed the hope the current government might be persuaded to cooperate if the international community proposes a plan that provides for the long-term development of the entire region, one of the poorest in the country. FOLLOW-UP PLAN ============== ¶4. (C) As follow-up, the European Commission agreed to take the lead in sounding out Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Chowdhury on the government,s willingness to pursue a long-term solution to the issue. Following an official visit by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in May, the UN will prepare a stakeholders conference to bring together interested donors and the Bangladesh government to try to finalize agreement on a deal. It was agreed UNHCR would convene another meeting of diplomatic missions in March to discuss the timing of the stakeholders meeting. (NOTE: POLOFF is organizing a visit to the camps with the European Commission and Danish Embassy in March. END NOTE.) Pasi