3 Women Nobel Laureates to focus Myanmar’s Rohingya atrocities

Visiting three Nobel Laureates will make a strong statement of support and solidarity with Rohingya women as they bear witness to their plight on a fact-finding mission to what is now said to have become the world’s biggest refugee camp.

Nobel Laureates Shirin Ebadi, Tawakkol Karman and Mairead Maguire will visit Thankhali camp in the district at 1:30pm on Monday and will meet women who have been forced from their homes in the genocide against Rohingya in Northern Rakhine State, Myanmar.

In particular, the delegation will focus on the violence against Rohingya women—including high levels of sexual violence.

Nobel Laureates Mairead Maguire (Northern Ireland), Shirin Ebadi (Iran) and Tawakkol Karman (Yemen) will also gain a better understanding of the assistance and protection being provided by the Bangladeshi government and local communities, including the challenges they face, and the role of local and international organizations providing support to the Rohingya women in the camps and elsewhere.

Two dynamic, grassroots-focused organisations have joined hands to make this delegation possible. The Nobel Women’s Initiative in collaboration with its partner in Bangladesh, Naripokkho, is leading the delegation to Bangladesh to better understand the situation of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The Nobel Women’s Initiative uses the prestige of the Nobel Peace Prize and six courageous women peace laureates to magnify the power and visibility of women working in countries around the world for peace, justice and equality, said a media statement.

The six women bring together their extraordinary experiences and work to spotlight, amplify and promote the work of grassroots women’s organizations and movements around the world.

The mission and its follow up are intended to increase our knowledge about the situation of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, and in particular Rohingya women.

It will inform their global advocacy in support of Rohingya women and local organizations supporting the women.

It is also intended to keep international attention on the Rohingya, and to increase international engagement on the plight of the Rohingya and to learn from experiences of Bangladeshi women’s organizations working to end violence against women,  advance women’s rights and peacebuilding in the country and region and to share findings and recommendations from our mission with the UN in support of the 37th session of the UN Human Rights Council and the upcoming hearing on Myanmar.

Source: unb