Yarra Council is calling on the Federal Government to provide support to Rohingya refugees in Myanmar, who are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

The situation of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar has been noted with extreme concern by nations globally, as well as the United Nations. The Rohingya have been subject to human rights violations within Myanmar for decades, including the denial of citizenship, making the Rohingya the world’s largest stateless people.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees are temporarily housed in camps in Bangladesh exceeding that country’s capacity to manage this crisis. Neighbouring countries are indicating they will not offer refugee status to Rohingya.

Yarra Council has a long and proud history of supporting groups of people forced to leave their country due to persecution or mistreatment and assisting them in settlement in Yarra.

At its meeting on 3 October 2017, the Council passed the following motion:

"1.          That Yarra Council:

• states its support for the Rohingya’s claim to social and political rights and the ability to access humanitarian assistance;
• calls on the Australian Government to acknowledge United Nation’s concerns about military-led “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya in Myanmar, and calls on Australia’s Government to end cooperation with Myanmar’s military and impose sanctions on senior military officials involved in these atrocities; and
• calls on the Australian Government to immediately provide permanent residency and a clear pathway to Australian citizenship for those Rohingya who have sought asylum in Australia."

More information

Yarra has been a Refugee Welcome Zone since 2002.

 A Refugee Welcome Zone is a local government area that has made a commitment to welcome refugees into the community, uphold the human rights of refugees, show compassion and enhance cultural and religious diversity in the community.

We value and are committed to promoting cultural, linguistic and religious diversity, community harmony and respect for all.

 For further information, visit the Refugee Council of Australia website.