Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan visits Rohingya camp

HONDA Taro, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, together with TANAKA Akihiko, President of JICA, had an official visit to the camp in Cox's Bazar, where over 920,000 displaced persons from Rakhine State, Myanmar reside.

ITO Naoki, Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh, and Mr. HAYAKAWA Yuho, Chief Representative of JICA Bangladesh joined the one-day mission, said a press release on Tuesday (July 26).

The delegations visited the jute bag factory of UNHCR, an E-voucher outlet of WFP, a water distribution point of IOM, and the health post of Japan Red Cross.

Since the large influx in August 2017, Japan has contributed over 170million USD to various interventions in Cox's Bazar as well as in Bhasan Char through international organizations and NGOs. These assistances included food assistance, healthcare, WASH, shelter, protection, and gender.

Witnessing the actual ongoing activities in the rainy field, H.E. Mr. HONDA said, "It was impressive to see the various interventions in the field, as well as the real environment where displaced people live. I was also touched that displaced persons were actively engaged in the service delivery in many project sites."

As the crisis is turning into its sixth year, it is essential to keep the attention of the global community, while multiple emergencies have been taking place in different parts of the world.

Acknowledging the difficulty the response has faced, HONDA noted, “The Government of Japan will further cooperate with the relevant agencies for better living conditions of displaced persons in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char as well as of host communities.”

Japan will also work toward the safe, voluntary and dignified repatriation to Myanmar. Finding sustainable solutions to this crisis will be conducive to our pursuit of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”.