Bangladesh


The Secretary-General, marking Human Rights Day and its theme, “Youth Standing up for Human Rights”, said that, throughout history and across the world, young people have been at the forefront of standing up for what is right and that he is deeply inspired by the energy and passion they bring to the struggle for human rights.

The World Food Programme launched its biggest emergency response for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh this year, following this week’s heavy rains and flooding.  In 24 hours, WFP reached 16,000 people with food aid — more than the total number of people it has reached since the start of the monsoon season.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today said that the Myanmar has conveyed to Bangladesh’s Government the names of 3,450 Rohingya refugees who have been cleared for return to Myanmar’s Rakhine State.  UNHCR called Myanmar’s engagement a positive step in affirmation of the right to return of Rohingya refugees.

A new Food and Agriculture Organization report finds that 41 countries — 31 of which are in Africa — require food assistance, as cyclone damage and rainfall deficits in 2019 caused significant agricultural production shortfalls in Southern Africa, and severe dryness in East Africa negatively affected harvests.

Due to sporadic rainfall in Bangladesh’s Teknaf peninsula, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and aid partners will truck water in the coming days to 140,000 Rohingya refugees, where water rationing due to limited supply has raised concern about the potential for water-borne diseases.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet today strongly condemned the beheading of 37 men in Saudi Arabia, most of them Shi’a Muslims, despite the repeated appeals by the United Nations about the lack of due process and fair trial guarantees.  She appealed to the authorities to halt pending executions.