Esme McGuire

BBC

From the Advisory Panel, delegates wait as all of their position papers are checked over and approved by the Chair. After opening speeches on the discussion of the Rohingya refugees, a debate starts.

Myanmar was the first country to give their opening speech, and is represented by two delegates. They ask the UN to remove the refugees in their midst, because they are hurting their people, but they also request they do so in the simplest way. They do not want to commit genocide on the Rohingyas. After the delegate of India declared that all of these refugees should return to their home country of Myanmar, the delegates of said country responded that being born in Myanmar does not give these people citizenship, as they are just refugees. That means, they say, that the delegate of India is incorrect when she states that they belong in their country and should return to it. They aren’t counted as part of the population, so even though they have lived in Myanmar for centuries does not mean that they are a part of the country. They have been attacking the country’s military, and should be removed. The delegates of Myanmar added that they did not want to commit genocide on the Rohingya refugees, but they don’t want to keep them in their country.

Bangladesh made an amendment, saying that buildings and homes should start to be rebuilt in November 2018. Myanmar responds to this, stating that it is too soon to start any rebuilding due to fighting still taking place, and the start date should be moved to the year after. Bangladesh stated that action need to happen now, and that if the date was moved the 2019, the UN would continue to move the date, and nothing would change. The delegates of Myanmar asked the delegate of Bangladesh if they would like to contribute land and resources to Rohingya people, and he responded that Bangladesh needed to take care of his own people first. The debate was paused due to the lunch break, and is to be continued afterwards.