One year after the outbreak of violence in Northern Rakhine State and ensuing forced displacement of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh, the humanitarian crisis is unfortunately still ongoing. The severity of the current situation of Rohingya is clearly established in all relevant UN reports.

In fact, the latest report issued by UN Human Rights Council has stated that the human rights violations committed against Rohingya amount to the gravest crimes under international law. The report also underlined that senior Myanmar officials responsible for these crimes should be investigated and prosecuted by a competent court.

In spite of the steps taken by the Government of Myanmar and the existing dialogue between Bangladesh and Myanmar towards the resolution of the crisis, that official repatriation process is yet to commence.

We call on the Government of Myanmar to take the necessary measures in cooperation with the international community with a view to reaching a lasting solution to the crisis and create the necessary conditions in Rakhine State for the safe, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya Muslims.

Turkey has spared no effort to ensure that the international community pay necessary attention to this issue since the onset of this crisis. In this context, the International Rohingya Consultation Meeting was organized on July 6th, 2018, in Ankara in order to exchange views among like-minded countries and international organizations active in the region to discuss the ways and means to prevent further deterioration of humanitarian conditions of Rohingya.

Turkey will persevere to support all efforts geared to keep this issue on the agenda of the international community and to find an enduring solution to the crisis in dialogue with both Myanmar and Bangladesh.