Multistakeholder Pledge: Rohingya Refugees - Expanded Resilience, Enhanced Solutions

Key outcomes

The Rohingya refugees multi-stakeholder pledge aims to ease the pressure on host countries through enhancing resilience and expanding solutions for Rohingya refugees. The pledge creates opportunities for stakeholders to leverage their collective strengths to advance resilience through supporting self-reliance initiatives, access to education and climate action, and to expand solutions by supporting the creation of conditions for sustainable return and third country solutions, such as resettlement or complementary pathways. Pledges that are technical, financial, advocacy-based, or policy-based are envisaged.

Background

There are more than 1 million Rohingya refugees living in the Asia and Pacific region. Most live in Bangladesh, home to the world’s largest and most densely populated refugee settlement. Amidst the pressures of competing global crises, and dwindling humanitarian resources, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand have continued to generously host Rohingya refugees. In the absence of a regional response mechanism, Malaysia hosts over 150,000 asylum-seekers and refugees, the vast majority of whom are Rohingya and Indonesia has stepped in to disembark 10 boatloads of 1,137 Rohingya refugees since December 2021. New initiatives to create third country solutions for Rohingya hosted in the region are being developed. Opportunities to support Rohingya refugees in achieving greater self-reliance and resilience and prepare them for sustainable reintegration when they return home, are being implemented with an incremental expansion of education, portable skills development and livelihoods activities.

These initiatives must be scaled up. With limited opportunities to develop self-reliance and lacking prospects for sustainable solutions, Rohingya refugees are risking their lives in search of solutions. In 2022, the region witnessed a 360 per cent increase in maritime movements compared to the previous year. A paradigm shift is however needed, in collaboration with Rohingya communities, to transform the Rohingya response into comprehensive and coordinated action towards achieving sustainable solutions and resilience.

Pledge description

The Global Refugee Forum offers a unique opportunity to put a spotlight on the situation of Rohingya refugees, the imperative to work towards solutions, and sustain the support offered by host countries in the region. At the Forum, stakeholders can demonstrate their commitment in support of a multi-actor pledge that expands solutions and enhances collective resilience, including through climate action and, as such, contributing to peaceful coexistence. Key elements of this pledge will also contribute to the protection of Rohingya refugees along the South-East Asia onward movement route. By combining collective strengths and expertise, this multistakeholder pledge has the potential to be truly transformational.

Beyond the region, offers of resettlement and complementary pathways are an integral element of an expanding package of solutions, notably for the most vulnerable refugees and for those with little or no prospect of future return to Myanmar. An increasing number of States in and beyond the region are willing to offer resettlement or complementary pathways through access to higher education opportunities, labour mobility, family reunification and private or community sponsorship; the latter also includes Rohingya diaspora.

Leadership

• Member States, private sector actors, other interested stakeholders and partners

Supported by UNHCR

Members

• Government of the United States of America

Contact details

UNHCR Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - [email protected]

Calendar

• 17 October 2023 – High-level Meeting on Rohingya refugees