The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Mr. Filippo Grandi is visiting Thailand from 15 to 17 October to draw attention to the Rohingya issue.
As part of the visit, High Commissioner Grandi will be opening a High-Level Regional Meeting on Rohingya refugees in Bangkok on 17 October. This closed-door meeting will seek international support for over a million Rohingya refugees and their hosting communities in the lead up to the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in Geneva, December 2023.
Bangladesh’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, UK's Minister of State for Indo-Pacific and the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration are among the key delegates attending the High-Level Meeting.
More than one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are being hosted in Asia. Bangladesh is hosting some 960,000 Rohingya. 102,000 refugees reside in Malaysia and 18,000 are registered in India.
In the lead up to the Global Refugee Forum (GRF), the 2023 Meeting on Rohingya Refugees will seek to take stock of the current situation that Rohingya refugees face and refocus efforts in the region for them. This includes mobilizing the international community to recommit to a comprehensive approach that prioritises durable solutions, particularly supporting efforts to create conditions conducive to voluntary repatriation to their country of origin.
The meeting will reinforce efforts to sustain support for the Rohingya refugee response, both for the humanitarian response, as well as to build the resilience of refugees which will help engender solutions. The Rohingya response remains critically underfunded, with significant impact on refugee protection and security. The meeting will bring together key stakeholders, including governmental counterparts, humanitarian and development partners, refugee-led organizations, academia, and civil society, from the region and beyond.
As noted, the outcomes and discussions at the meeting will contribute and feed into the ministerial-level Global Refugee Forum, which is scheduled for 13 – 15 December 2023 in Geneva. The Global Refugee Forum will bring together member States and other stakeholders to make concrete pledges and
contributions, and consider opportunities to implement the four objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), namely easing the pressure on host countries, enhancing refugee self-reliance, expanding access to third country solutions and supporting conditions in countries of origin for voluntary return in safety and dignity. The Global Refugee Forum provides a unique opportunity to leverage commitments by the international community aimed at expanding solutions and enhancing resilience for Rohingya refugee populations and host communities in the region, including through a multi-stakeholder pledge for Rohingya refugees.
The meeting also serves in support of UN Security Council Resolution 2669 of 21 December 2022 which underscores ‘the need to address the root causes of the crisis in Rakhine State, and to create conditions necessary for the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees and internally displaced persons, encourages diplomatic efforts between the parties concerned to help address the issues facing Rohingyas, and further stresses the importance of providing continued protection and assistance to refugees and displaced persons.
