On 16 March, 2023, the following email was leaked to the Myanmar Accountability Project, MAP. It is from Ramanathan Balakrishnan, the UN’s Resident Coordinator in Myanmar, to members of the UN Country Team. In it, he confirms that UNHCR and WFP were taking part in a pilot scheme to repatriate Rohingya Refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar, despite UNHCR’s assessment that it was unsafe to do so. Mr Balakrishnan also reveals in the email that UN insignia was removed from UN vehicles on which officials from Myanmar’s illegal junta were travelling.
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From: Ramanathan Balakrishnan <balakrishnan@unfpa.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2023 11:31 AM
To: Chris Gunness <cgunness@outlook.com>
Subject: Recent Developments in Northern Rakhine
Dear colleagues,
I would like to share with you some updates on the issues that have come to my attention as of yesterday and is now making the rounds on local media outlets and in social media. This is a strictly internal communication, and I ask that it is not shared further.
By now all of you are aware of the recent developments in the preparation for pilot repatriation of Rohingya refugees between the Government of Bangladesh and the de facto authorities of Myanmar, the last being the visit of a group of Myanmar de facto delegation in Cox’s Bazaar, to discuss further the pilot repatriation with their counterpart and meet with some of the refugees who are included in their list for the potential repatriation.
Further, many of you have heard that UNHCR and WFP provided their boats to the Myanmar repatriation pilot mission for its trip from Mangudaw to Teknaf yesterday. As soon as I was made aware of this information, I spoke to the agencies in question and I confirm that UNHCR and WFP indeed did so at the very firm request of the de facto Maungdaw authority and for UNHCR, as part of its role stipulated in the tripartite MoU with the de facto Ministry of Immigration and Population. The request was made at the very short notice – 36 hours before the planned trip was to take place. All UN markings were removed from all boats. Further, to our knowledge, no presence of weapons or armed escort was observed on any of the boats during the journey, as was alleged.
Notwithstanding the operational decisions made by the two agencies to facilitate the delegation’s transport, I fully share your concern on the perceptions conveyed by the media reports and the potential spread of misinformation and disinformation, reputational risk of the United Nations as a whole and staff security. The RCO, in coordination with UNHCR, WFP and UNDSS, are closely monitoring the media trends and reviewing the security consideration for the staff not only in Rakhine but also in other parts of the country accordingly.
For your information, UNHCR was not involved in the bilateral discussion between the Government of Bangladesh and the de facto Myanmar authorities leading up to this current visit. UNHCR’s and the United Nations’ position on return to Myanmar remains unchanged: while every refugee has a right to return to their home country, in UNHCR’s assessment conditions in Rakhine State are currently not conducive to the safe and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees. At the same time, UNHCR maintains the importance of the interaction between the Bangladesh government and the de facto authorities, and that the refugees are consulted and given opportunities to receive appropriate information from the de facto Myanmar authorities.
As we have all experienced by now, our work here in Myanmar requires a tight-rope act if we are to be of service to the people of Myanmar, and this remains guided by the UN’s engagement guidelines and the internationally recognized principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence. Our reputation and credibility, not to mention our safety and security, depends on how we model these parameters in all our activities. I need not remind that any slip, deliberate or accidental, on part of even one of us affects all of us. Allow me to reiterate the collective accountability of all agencies towards maintaining UN’s reputation in Myanmar.
Should any of you have further question on the ongoing development in the repatriation pilots, Noriko Takagi (Takagi@unhcr.org), the UNHCR Representative-designate, is happy to provide more information. If you are approached by media in this regard, please refer them to Reuben Lim Wende (wende@unhcr.org), Communications Officer at UNHCR.
best regards,
Rama
Ramanathan Balakrishnan
UN Resident Coordinator a.i./ Humanitarian Coordinator a.i.
UNFPA Representative, Myanmar