Dhaka for durable solution to Rohingya problem: FM

UNHCR and EU's urgently needed $US 1 billion fund raising issue for displaced Rohingya has created serious concern as there is no durable solution to Rohingya problem in next 10 years or one decade.
Bangladesh wants a durable solution to the Rohingya crisis through their peaceful repatriation to Myanmar's Rakhine State.
Concern was raised by civil society groups ahead of a conference of the US, UK, EU and UN Refugee Agency on Thursday (22 October) to raise urgently needed funds for displaced Rohingya living in and outside of their native land Myanmar.
Civil society groups based in Cox's Bazar on Tuesday called on the international community to redouble efforts for quick repatriation of Rohingyas, saying Bangladesh is facing multiple challenges induced by climate change and Covid-19 pandemic.
Cox's Bazar CSO-NGO Forum (CCNF) made the observations at a virtual press   conference on Tuesday. 
Zahirul Alam, Executive Director of Integrated Development Foundation, said, "We want developed countries to work with Myanmar for early repatriation."
Reminding about the possible uncertainty in the region, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday sought support from big countries to find a durable solution to the Rohingya crisis through their peaceful repatriation to Myanmar's Rakhine State.
In 2020, the United Nations appealed for more than US$ 1 billion to meet the humanitarian needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic added layers of new challenges and needs to an already complex and massive refugee emergency.
Indicating the recent death cases in a turf war in Rohingya camps, Momen said, "This is sad. This is very sad. We've long been saying that uncertainty might be created in the region if the Rohingya crisis is not resolved."
"See, you're investing in Myanmar. That's fine. But if uncertainty appears, you won't get the expected return. So, let's work together."
CCNF leaders at the press conference e urged the stakeholders to ensure that funding comes directly to local NGOS.
This will reduce the transactional cost in the humanitarian response as per the Grand Bargain (GB) commitment signed in 2016 by the UN agencies, they argued.
Recently a study revealed that a large portion of the donations meant for the displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh is being spent as operational cost of international NGOs.
In some cases, the study found the operational cost of the international non-government organizations (INGO) in Cox's Bazar was five times higher than the programme requirement, a problem compounded by a lack of transparency in INGOs' operational cost expenditure.
Coastal Association for Social Transformation Trust (COAST) unveiled the study in 2018. The study was prepared using survey results based on the responses of 42 local NGOs and 19 INGOs or UN agencies.
According to the NGO Bureau around 3,000 registered and non-registered foreigners are working under INGOs in Cox's Bazar.
More or less, every foreign aid worker receives approximate Tk 25 thousand as daily allowance, excluding their regular salary, which collectively stands at two crore taka daily. This is also five times higher than the operational cost of the local NGOs.
Based on one calculation, some INGOs spend 18 percent on the programme while 82 percent are spent on operations, it said.
UN agencies and INGOs signed the GB commitments for aid transparency and are continuously trying out ways to reduce transaction cost by working through local NGOs and local government agencies but the issue has been crawling for many years.
Currently, 860,000 Rohingya refugees are living in settlements across Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district.
Most of them, some 740,000, fled from Myanmar during the most recent displacement crisis in 2017. Other countries in the region host some 150,000 Rohingya refugees.
An estimated 600,000 live in Myanmar's Rakhine State.
Across the entire region, most Rohingyas live on the margins of society and they need to be assured access to basic healthcare, clean drinking water, a reliable food supply, or meaningful work and educational opportunities.
Dr Momen said the number one objective of Bangladesh is to see the repatriation of Rohingyas to their place of origin in Rakhine State.
"We don't want them (Rohingyas) to be integrated with our society. They must go back to their country (Myanmar). And we sought global support in this regard.
Bangladesh is demanding an immediate meeting with Myanmar on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees to their homeland in Rakhine State, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said in a recent interview.
"Myanmar is delaying to take back the Rohingyas citing the coronavirus pandemic and an election in that country in October as reasons," Momen said.
He said he expected to sit down with the Myanmar government on the issue sometime after November, Foreign Ministry sources said.