By Nasriya Naffin, TON Sri Lanka

In 2017 more than 9,00,000 Muslims from Rohingya, Myanmar fled to their neighboring country--Bangladesh after a military campaign that took place in Myanmar against Muslim minority. Bangladesh provided temporary shelter to these displaced people Immediately.

However, Dhaka has not succeeded in finding permanent homes for these refugees. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested global leaders to pay attention towards the matter. She prefers if the refugees could return safely to Myanmar soon, as the Bangladesh government is struggling with growing security challenges near the refugee camps and domestic political pressure is building up to end the crisis. According to Hasina, accommodating 1 million refugees is not an easy task for their country. She feels sympathetic to the Rohingya refugees as they were bound to run away from their country for their safety and security.

Two attempts of sending refugees back to Myanmar have failed as they keep refusing to return to their homeland citing continuing danger. Numbers keep adding to the Bangladesh refugees list each year as the flight of refugees continues. Refugee camps near Cox’s Bazar have been getting overcrowded, making the government relocating the camps to a remote and flood prone island called Bhashan Char.

Her Excellency Hasina addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2021 stated “For the last four years, we held high hopes that these displaced people could go back to their own homes in their motherland Myanmar in safety, security, and dignity. We reposed our trust in the global assembly and community for their repatriation. However, our calls have remained unheeded and our hopes unfulfilled. We are now in the fifth year of the crisis. Yet, we still hold the hope for a durable solution to this crisis.”

The Prime Minister was disappointed that the endless attempts on returning the Myanmar nationals back home had not shown any progress. According to the Prime Minister, Bangladesh has ensured that all necessary arrangements have been made to provide these refugees to stay safe and secure while they are in Bangladesh. In a congested and overpopulated city like Dhaka it is not easy to accommodate large numbers of refugees with limited land areas. These camps have already brought serious impacts on the surrounding environment and ecology, she added.

On the sideline of the UNGA, a high-level meeting on the Rohingya issue was organized and addressing the meeting once again the Prime Minister mentioned that the Rohingya issue was created by Myanmar and so the solution should come from Myanmar. She requested world leaders to assist on the following issues regarding the refugees.

• Keeping the repatriation on top of the prioritization list, all activities must be conducted for this purpose.
• To come up with a permanent solution to the Rohingya crisis through repatriation despite the changed political situation in Myanmar.
• ASEAN countries must play an active role in creating a favorable environment for the repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar.
•  Implementation of effective measures and projects to create a favorable environment for the repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar by the UN and development partners.
• To provide full support in the ongoing process in ICJ and other international organizations to ensure justice for the violence and ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya.

Also, during the COVID- 19 pandemic the government has ensured the safety and welfare of the Rohingyas not forgetting to include this population to their national vaccination program.

According to Her Excellency Hasina, more than 30, 000 children are born in these refugee camps each year. As a solution for overcrowded camps Bhasan Char Island with 13,000 acres of land cover has been developed for the cost of over US$ 350 million with better infrastructure for about 100000 people. Relocation has begun and is done on the principle of voluntariness. She hopes the UN’S operation on the island will resume soon.

The Prime Minister emphasized that whatever the country is doing towards this displaced will be temporary and they should return to their homeland safely and the international community must help towards this. She requested international support on their effort on resolving this humanitarian crisis as a collective responsibility as its implication goes beyond borders. It is impacting the security of the region so urgent actions should be taken. She also mentioned that Bangladesh believes that the ASEAN has a great responsibility for the matter and will provide full assistance for the sustainable return of these refugees in future.

Humanitarian assistance is not a permanent solution; therefore, she expects the UN and other partners to undertake tangible actions and projects in Myanmar to create an environment conducive for repatriation and their sustainability.

However, in a video statement at the 27th International Nikkei Conference on Future of Asia held recently the Prime Minister called for everyone's support to settle the Rohigya refugee crisis once again as their plans of resettling them in Myanmar has not made progress. Indeed, if return of Rohingyas is not materialized, it would not only create security risks for Bangladesh but itself is not favourable for the Rohingyas.