(COX’S BAZAR, February 2023)—In February 2023, Fortify Rights helped organized meetings between Rohingya refugee human rights defenders living in refugee camps in Bangladesh and senior-level diplomats from the Netherlands and the U.S.
On February 23, 2023, Rohingya human rights defenders met with representatives from the Netherlands Embassy in Bangladesh, providing an opportunity to share information about ongoing issues in the camps in Cox’s Bazar District. Participants discussed violence by non-state actors in the camps, human trafficking, gender-based violence issues, and restrictions on access to education and livelihood.
Earlier in the month, on February 14, 2023, Fortify Rights facilitated a meeting between Ambassador Beth Van Schaak, Ambassador-At-Large of Global Criminal Justice at the U.S. Department of State, and Rohingya human rights defenders. During the meeting, the participants discussed the universal jurisdiction complaint filed in Germany by Fortify Rights and 16 complainants from Myanmar against Myanmar officials and others involved in atrocity crimes, the problematic National Verification Card process in Myanmar, ongoing violence in the refugee camps in Bangladesh by militant non-state actors, and extortion and beating of refugees by Bangladesh authorities.