Kofi Annan visits Rohingya camp in B'desh

A three-member team of the Rakhine Commission headed by former United Nation (UN) chief Kofi Annan on Sunday visited the Rohingya camp in Balukhali area of Ukhiya in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.

During the visit, the commission listened to the refugees who took shelter in Bangladesh after the Myanmar Army launched crackdown in Rakhine State, reports the Dhaka Tribune.

Foreign Ministry Joint Secretary Baki Billah, Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner Md Ali Hossain and officials of IMO, UNHCR and other human rights organisations were also present during the visit.

Some 70,000 Rohingyas have so far fled to Bangladesh since October, according to government estimates and other international organisations, amid tight security measures at the border.

The team will also hold discussion with the Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali on Wednesday and attend a seminar at the Bangladesh Institute of Strategic Studies (BISS).

The international commission, formed in August last year with nine members to solve the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, will submit an evaluation report on the visit.

Earlier this month, the Myanmar government sent a special envoy to discuss the Rohingya issue with Bangladesh, where some 30,000 documented and over 300,000 unregistered Rohingyas have been sheltered for long.