UN Council chief calls for action on Rohingya refugees
United Nations, May 4: Ambassador Joanna Wronecka of Poland, UN Security Council president for May, has said that the world body must act when Rohingya refugees are suffering.
She made the remarks on Thursday here after visiting Myanmar Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh earlier this week, Xinhua news agency reported.
"So, when you see the people suffering we have to act," she told reporters at the UN headquarters during a monthly briefing on the council's program of work. "The main question is how to help."
Wronecka said the Security Council would meet on May 14 for a formal briefing on the situation.
She said it was possible the panel "may adopt a PRST" (it carries the weight of international law), since "we are united, definitely committed to doing something..."
"It is difficult to live in the camps," she said. "The conditions are extremely difficult because in Bangladesh due to the monsoon season there is always a risk for raining,..."
The Monsoon has already started and have caused flooding in some areas, threatening the spread of disease and impeding the distribution of humanitarian aid.
"I had the chance to speak especially to women because they are the most affected with the children...," said a visibly moved Wronecka.
"But the refugees cannot stay forever. It was obvious. So the question is how to help them return to their place of origin."
The Warsaw envoy said members of the panel of 15 then met with Myanmar State Counsellor Aung Sang Su Kyi.
Bangladesh and Myanmar had signed an agreement on the return of refugees.
However, the UN has been saying refugees should only return voluntarily when they are ready to go where they want to go in a dignified manner.
"We see a possibility more for the role of different UN agencies to help."
She particularly singled out the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
More than 670,000 ethnic Muslim Rohingya have fled northern Rakhine State since August 25, 2017.
A PRST is a step below a resolution, which is read out by the president in a formal Security Council meeting and becomes an official document of the world organisation.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Ajit Pawar wins Baramati battle, defeats nephew Yugendra by more than 1 lakh votes
Baramati, Nov 23: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister and NCP president Ajit Pawar on Saturday won from his traditional Baramati assembly constituency by defeating his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar by more than one lakh votes.
Ajit, who parted ways with his uncle Sharad Pawar last year and was seeking an eighth term from this family bastion in Pune district, polled 1,81,132 votes while Yugendra Pawar polled 80,233 votes.
Ajit, thus, defeated his younger brother's son by 1,00,899 votes.
Five months ago, Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) had triumphed in Baramati in the Lok Sabha elections, with incumbent MP and Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule defeating Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra by a margin of 1.5 lakh votes.
Both the NCP factions did not leave a single stone unturned during the assembly campaign, and even Sharad Pawar's wife Pratibha Pawar and Sule's daughter Revati were seen campaigning for Yugendra, while Ajit Pawar brought his mother on stage during his concluding rally in Baramati.
While Sharad Pawar told the people of Baramati that they needed a new leadership, alluding to Yugendra Pawar whom he described as a highly-educated candidate, Ajit Pawar cautioned people not to fall prey to the "emotional pitch" by the senior Pawar.
After Saturday's results, Ajit Pawar, who along with several other NCP legislators sided with the BJP-Shiv Sena government in 2023, could claim to be the real political heir of his estranged uncle who founded the NCP in 1999.
Sunetra Pawar, now a Rajya Sabha member, thanked the people of Baramati for reposing their faith once again in `Dada' (elder brother in Marathi, as Ajit is fondly called).
