The officials of United Nations Agency made a field trip to the villages in Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Yatheydaung and observed matters related to future security of socio-economic life of the returnees and repatriation process of the displaced persons who left Rakhine State.

“A survey began on September 13. At first the departmental officials of the government accompanied the UN field trip team. The UNDP and the UNHCR will have a plan to provide shelters and they will arrange where to build houses. The result of the employment survey will have to be discussed again at the Union level. The first field trip is over. There are proposed villages for making field trips. Now there is no field trip,” Ye Htoo, Deputy Commissioner of the General Administration Department.

The officials of the UNHCR and the UNDP made field trips to 27 villages and carried out a survey during September. The facts and data as to health, education and economy were collected in these villages.

The further proposed villages in Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Yatheydaung are 26 in total and the remaining villages to collect facts and data are 86. 

Letting the UN staff travel to the villages in Buthidaung and Maungdaw makes the start of implementation to MoU signed between the government, and UNHCR and the UNDP. The staff of the UN Agency began making field trip to more than 20 villages in Buthidaung and Maungdaw for the first phase.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs released an announcement on August 9, stating that the staff of the UNHCR and the UNDP has been allowed making field trips to Rakhine State and collecting facts and data as part of implementation of the MoU signed between the government, and UNHCR and the UNDP. 

The first phase of the implementation of the MoU signed on June 6 in 2008 is to make field trips and carry out assessments in 12 villages of five village tracts in Buthidaung Township and 11 villages of eight village tracts in Maungdaw.  

The MoU implementation task force including the representatives of four government ministries, the UNDP and the UNHCR made a first field trip to Buthidaung and Maungdaw on July 21 and 22. 

The UNDP and the UNHCR proposed to carry out assessment in the villages of 31 village tracts in Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Yatheydaung at the meeting on the first MoU implementation on July 11 in 2018.  

Translated and Edited by Win Htut