Warnings from the Rohingya

The Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism is hosting a conversation between the Hon. Bob Rae, Canada’s Special Envoy to Myanmar, and Professor Payam Akhavan.

Mr. Rae will discuss his Interim Report to the Government of Canada, which covers the humanitarian crisis in both Bangladesh and Myanmar as a result of the recent exodus of over 655,000 Rohingya refugees into neighbouring Bangladesh, adding to the hundreds of thousands of refugees already in Bangladesh and the 120,000 in camps under virtual lockdown in Rakhine State in Myanmar; the efforts required to ensure the secure return of  refugees to their homes with full political and social rights, as well as to ensure the implementation of the recommendations of the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State; and the need to ensure that the substantial evidence of breaches of law and human rights is investigated and assessed in a credible fashion.

About the speaker

The Honourable Bob Rae obtained a B.Phil, a graduate degree from Oxford in 1971 and was named a Queen’s Counsel in 1984. He has received numerous honorary degrees – including one from U of T in 1999 – and awards for his public service. He was appointed to Her Majesty’s Privy Council for Canada in 1998 and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000 and an Officer of the Order of Ontario in 2004.