UN rights chief arrives in Bangladesh to visit Rohingya camps

United Nations rights chief Michelle Bachelet arrived in Bangladesh Sunday (August 14, 2022) for a four-day visit that will include a trip to squalid camps housing nearly a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, AFP reports.

The exodus of Rohingya was sparked by a 2017 Myanmar army offensive against the mostly Muslim minority, with the U.N.’s highest court last month giving the green light to a landmark case accusing the Buddhist-majority country of genocide.

Five years later the refugees refuse to go home in the absence of guarantees for their safety and rights from military-ruled Myanmar, making host country Bangladesh increasingly impatient.

Bachelet, 70, a former Chilean president, is due to step down at the end of the month.