This photo taken on July 3, 2017 shows UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi (center) meeting people at a sewing skills training class in Maungdaw in the northern part of Rakhine State. (Photo by Khine Htoo Mrat/AFP)
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has concluded his first visit to Myanmar by appealing for inclusive and sustainable solutions to protracted displacement and statelessness.
During his visit, Grandi travelled to Yangon, Naypyitaw as well as Sittwe and Maungdaw in Rakhine State.
He met Myanmar’s de-facto leader and State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi; the Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Dr Min Myat Aye; the Minister of Labour, Immigration and Population, U Thein Swe; and the Minister of Border Affairs, Lt. Gen Ye Aung.
"I was very happy to hear the State Counsellor saying that refugees are welcome back from Thailand," the high commissioner said.
"We agreed that returns must be voluntary and sustainable. Refugees should not come back to a situation of dependency but of self-reliance."
They also discussed humanitarian access in Kachin and Rakhine states, where about 100,000 and 120,000 people respectively have lived for more than five years in camps for internally displaced people.
While in Rakhine State, Grandi met displaced Muslims in Sittwe's Dar Paing camp, who expressed their strong desire to return home. He also spoke to communities north of Maungdaw and listened to their safety and livelihood concerns.
"These are complex issues but they are not intractable," said Grandi. "A crucial first step is to pursue freedom of movement and access to services and livelihoods for all. Accelerated pathways to citizenship are also part of the solution, as are efforts to tackle exclusion and poverty."
He highlighted that the recommendations of the Advisory Commission of Rakhine State provide an important roadmap for the way forward.