Prof Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser, advocated on Monday for the establishment of a “safe zone guaranteed by the UN” for Rakhine’s displaced people and the development of assistance mechanisms.

This will be “the best thing to get aid to them,” Prof Yunus stated, adding that it might be a “good beginning” to resolving the Rakhine problem and preventing thousands of additional migrants from entering Bangladesh.

He made the remarks when Thomas Andrews, the UN’s special rapporteur on the state of human rights in Myanmar, visited him at his Tejgaon office.

Special Rapporteur Andrews appreciated the chief adviser for his three-point proposals on the Rohingya crisis, which were floated on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York last month.

He said the violence in Rakhine state has created an “enormous crisis” in the state, and humanitarian aid is urgently needed for the displaced and starving people, including that of Rohingyas, according to Chief Adviser’s press wing.

The special rapporteur said at least 3.1 million people have been displaced in Myanmar, including hundreds of thousands in Rakhine State, where insurgent groups have been fighting against the Myanmar military for years.

He noted that in recent weeks some 30,000 Rohingyas have fled their homes in Rakhine and entered Bangladesh, which is already hosting more than a million Rohingya people in camps in the country’s southeastern Cox’s Bazar border districts.

The chief adviser also suggested talks with the international community, including Asean, over the violence and displaced people in Rakhine.

During their discussions, the chief adviser also sought support from the Special Rapporteur to expedite the resettlement of thousands of Rohingya refugees to a third country.

The ICC investigations into the atrocities committed against the Rohingya in 2017 and the recent student-led revolution in Bangladesh were also discussed during the meeting.