Cox's Bazaar , Bangladesh : The first batch of 23 Burmese refugees this year from five families, including men, women and children reached New Zealand on June 30, for resettlement to a third country, according to a Majee in the camp.
Five members from one family from Nayapara camp and 18 members from four families from Kuthupalong refugee camp left their respective camps on June 27, for Dhaka and boarded a flight to New Zealand on June 29. They stayed one night at Proval Hotel in Cox's Bazaar before leaving for Dhaka .
The selected families were trained in New Zealand culture by the International Organization of Migration (IOM) earlier.
This is a humanitarian gesture by New Zealand and an attempt to seek a durable solution for about 27,000 Rohingyas in two camps in Cox's Bazar—Nayapara and Kutupalong
Rohingyas still living in camps in Cox's Bazar are those of a group of 270,000 refugees who fled to Bangladesh in 1991-92 to escape persecution by the Burmese military junta.
UNHCR has actively promoted resettlement in third countries for Rohingya refugees for whom no other solution is viable. "We have been heartened by the humanitarian gesture of countries such as Canada , UK and New Zealand who have accepted a small but important number of refugees for resettlement in their countries. Resettlement is one of the durable solutions for refugees", said Ms. Pia Prytz Phiri on June 20, on World Refugee Day.
The first batch of 13 Rohingya refugees, the second batch of nine refugees and the third batch of 20 refugees, including men, women and children were resettled in Canada in 2006 and 2007. A total of 42 Rohingya refugees have been resettled in Canada .
The Rohingyas are a minority Muslim ethnic group from northern Arakan state who are denied citizenship in their own country. The refugees in the camps in Cox's Bazar have been living in bad conditions, with no realistic prospects of going home in the immediate future.
Some Rohingyas who have been living in New Zealand visited newly arrived refugees from Bangladesh , according to the Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia (BRCA).
Source: Kaladanpress