A 12-member delegation of the European Parliament visited two Burmese Muslim refugee camps in southern Bangladesh on Monday to witness the current situation of refugees, said an UNHCR official.
"A 12-member delegation from the European Parliament visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazaar on Monday. It is a regular tour of the European Parliament to the refugee camps in the early period every year. I do not think their visit to the refugee camps is related to Quintana's tour of Burma," he said.
Quintana, the UN Human Rights Envoy to Burma, began a five-day visit to Burma on Monday and he is now visiting Arakan State to see the situation of the Muslim community there.
The European delegation arrived at Kutupalong refugee camp around 10 a.m. and met many refugees in the camp.
A teacher from the camp said, "They came to our camp in the morning and asked us many questions about the situation of refugees in the camp. They promised us they would make improvements for Muslim refugees in the camp in the future."
Most of the Burmese Muslim refugees in the camps requested the delegation to arrange to take them to third countries under the European resettlement programme to improve their lives.
"The refugees' situation is very bad in the camps at present and we do not want to live here. We cannot go outside the camp. It is like a prison. At the same time we are unable to return to Burma. So we requested them to take us to third countries," the teacher said.
The resettlement programme for Burmese Muslims in the camps is still operating and many refugees have left for Canada, UK, Australia, and a few other European countries in the last year.
In Kutupalong and Nayapara refugee camps there are over 25,000 UN registered refugees, while nearly 40,000 unregistered refugees are living outside the camps.
According to refugee sources, a refugee Sonshu Arlong, ID number 6610 from B Block of Kutupalong camp, was detained and beaten by Bangladesh camp authorities for revealing the situation in the camp to the delegation, after camp authorities prohibited the refugees from disclosing the issues.
