PH to start accepting Rohingya refugees -- Locsin

FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. has signed the Legal Framework for the Complementary Pathways (CPath) Program for Rohingya refugees, which will allow the Philippines to accept them into the country where they can also avail of tertiary education training.

The CPath program aims to provide an educational pathway to eligible beneficiaries, utilize a comprehensive approach by engaging relevant government agencies and private institutions, and promote durable solutions by helping beneficiaries achieve self-reliance.

"This initiative concretizes the country's pledge at the first Global Refugee Forum in 2019 to explore complementary pathways for admitting refugees and President Rodrigo Duterte's emphasis on protection for those fleeing for safety," Secretary Locsin said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that Rohingya refugees have been fleeing violence in Myanmar at a staggering rate -- and the numbers keep growing. They walk for days through jungles and mountains, or brave dangerous sea voyages across the Bay of Bengal. They arrive exhausted, hungry and sick – in need of international protection and humanitarian assistance.

The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar. The latest exodus began on Aug. 25, 2017, when violence broke out in Myanmar's Rakhine State.

The vast majority of Rohingya refugees reaching Bangladesh are women and children, including newborn babies. Many others are elderly people requiring additional aid and protection. They have nothing and need everything.

Secretary Locsin congratulated the Department of Justice for shepherding the program and getting it off the ground.

He also thanked the UNHCR for its support for the Philippine government in this initiative and in the area of protection of persons of concern in general, including in the Inter-Agency Steering Committee (IASC) on refugees, statelessness and persons of concern and the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM).

Source: TheManila Times