Mr. President,
We thank the Special Rapporteur and the members of the Fact Finding Mission for their presentations today.

Turkey believes that the crisis in Rakhine State of Myanmar remains to be an important humanitarian crisis that may have serious implications on the region and beyond.

With the ongoing exodus, the total number of Rohingya in Bangladesh has reached up to almost one million. Bangladesh now hosts more Rohingya than Myanmar. This indicates that Rohingya Muslim community in Myanmar has been almost wiped away.

One million people living in camps in difficult conditions without access to basic services and without any opportunity for education or jobs creates an important challenge not only for Bangladesh but also for the international community.

Turkey welcomes the agreement signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar last November, for the return of Rohingya refugees to their place of origin. We believe that international community should help Bangladesh and Myanmar in order to ensure the successful implementation of this agreement and the safe, voluntary and dignified return of refugees to their homes.

After the return of refugees and IDPs to their places of origin, we can focus on the road map for the sustainable solution, which can be based on the recommendations of Rakhine Advisory Commission headed by Kofi Annan. As mentioned on various occasions before, Turkey stands ready to assist the Myanmar Government to address the root causes of the crisis.

Through various Turkish agencies, such as TIKA, AFAD and the Turkish Red Crescent, we have delivered urgent food supplies to people in need and has established a field hospital in Cox’s Bazar. In that regard, Turkey will continue its efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance.

We do appreciate the constructive role played by Bangladesh under difficult circumstances and we believe that the international community should do more to share the burden. In collaboration with Bangladeshi authorities, we are currently developing a project to improve sheltering conditions for tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees.

Finally, Turkey will maintain its endeavours to find a lasting solution to the crisis in cooperation with the governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar and relevant UN Organizations.

Thank you.