The Rohingyas who have taken refuge in Bangladesh to escape the atrocities of the Myanmar security forces will inevitably die due to starvation and lack of treatment if adequate funding is not available, said William Lacy Swing, the director general of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the UN migration agency.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent on Wednesday, the last day of his four-day visit to Bangladesh, Swing, however, assured that IOM will work to make sure this does not happen.

Profusely praising Bangladesh for generously hosting the Rohingyas, the IOM chief said that Dhaka has had to make sacrifices to do this. When it was put to him that deaths from starvation or lack of treatment are the last thing Bangladesh would want, the IOM chief said: “Absolutely… That’s why your prime minister is so committed. She doesn’t want any of these to happen. But, frankly, if the funding is not there, it will be inevitable. It will happen.”

However, he was quick to add: “We are going to make sure that does not happen. I

have lot of confidence in our ability to do that.” To a question on funding, Swing said: “Of course, I am concerned. I have to be. I told you we are in competition with nine other conflicts.”

But he said that even though all crises due to conflicts are awful, this one has the “most human face”. “…A group of people—an ethnic group—they are being persecuted at home; their rights (have been) taken away, including citizenship. The photos that are coming are really horrendous. I have called it ‘An Arc of Human Suffering from Rakhine State to Cox’s Bazar’,” he added.

Responding to another question on funding, the IOM director general said, “None of us (agencies) have a large percentage of our requirement. That’s why the pledging conference in Geneva on Monday is so important.”

“It’s an open question as to whether one can sustain the financial support needed. But I think we are all committed to making that happen. I do recognise that we are in competition with nine other conflicts in the world. Therefore, we have to maintain transparency and credibility (regarding) what we are doing, ensuring that the money is well used to deliver results—in another word, to protect and assist these people to prepare for the time of the day they can voluntarily go back safely. It’s an open question as to how it can (be) sustain(ed). But we have to be optimistic,” he said.

Asked about the reasons behind the problems of having funds despite the pledges made by the international community before fully opening the border to the Rohingyas, Swing attributed this to the unprecedented pace, scope, and scale of the arrival of the refugees in only five or six weeks. “No one thought it would happen like this,” he said.

Stressing the need for long-term funding, the IOM chief reminded: “It’s going to take some time (to get funds). Even the October 23 conference is only for six months, till the end of February.”

“We will have to be much quicker to find the funds that are required,” he said.

When asked to describe the magnitude of the crisis, Swing said: “I would simply say this is, in my knowledge, the fastest growing humanitarian crisis of our time. I think it is unprecedented to have roughly 560,000 people cross one country to another in five to six weeks.”

Asked how Bangladesh handled it, he said: “I think it (was) remarkably well responded to by your government. I would like to pay tribute to your prime minister, her government, and the people of your country for their generosity and keeping their borders open at a great expense and trying to provide as much support as they can. Here, I would include the host communities, which are many. It’s a kind of shared responsibility taken on.” “Bangladesh is bearing its responsibility. I am happy to come here (and) see it well done,” he added.

About the challenges of dealing with the crisis, the IOM chief said, “Everything is a priority. Shelter, food, non-food items, health—all these are priorities. Probably, at the top of the list, I would put shelter because it takes time to (put up) shelter.”

“Here again, your government has been very forthcoming. My understanding is that they offered 3,000 acres of forest reserve, which means, again, (a) sacrifice for the country. I don’t know how much more land will be taken. I suspect any amount won’t be enough. There again, I’m not concerned because the government is prepared to do what it takes to help these suffering people until they can voluntarily go home under a safe condition on arrival,” he said.

When asked about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s request to IOM to put pressure on Myanmar to take back its nationals during a meeting on the sidelines of the 72nd UN general assembly, he said, “I understand the Prime Minister’s point, which is very well taken. What she is basically saying is there has to be a political solution and the political solution lies in Myanmar. The difficulty I have responding to this is that basically, we are a humanitarian agency, not a political agency.”

But, Swing added that IOM obviously shares the concern and there is need for a dialogue and political process that can lead to the conditions to allow the Rohingyas to return safely to resume their lives and livelihoods. “So, her thrust is correct that it needs a political solution,” he said.

Asked if the international community has done enough to put pressure on Myanmar to take back its people, Swing said, “It’s hard to know what the right formula is going to be. What I would say is we have something of a roadmap on the way forward in the form of the advisory commission report on Rakhine state. That report exists.”

“It has a series of very practical measures that can be taken step by step. They (measures) are not revolutionary; they are very practical. The first step would be to allow resumption of our humanitarian activities that have been suspended for the moment,” he said.

The resumption of humanitarian activities will help stabilise the situation, Swing said, adding that real protection will be needed because it’s a conflict involving arms and violence, which have to be replaced with a more civilian approach—something that is absent right now.

When asked if IOM supports the Prime Minister’s proposal to establish a safe zone for Rohingyas in Myanmar, the IOM chief said,:“I don’t think it would be appropriate or helpful for me to comment or try to assess the Prime Minister’s proposal. She is trying desperately to help, come up with ideas that would lead to a political solution. We understand and support that.” But he said that as a general principle, IOM always supports the process of full integration of the migrants in their areas of living—be it at home or in host societies—because full integration will lead them to a secured life.