Dhaka has once again called for the safe and immediate repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh, pointing to the fact that there can't be lasting peace and stability in Myanmar without resolving the Rohingya crisis.
This was pointed out by Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Friday at a bilateral meeting with Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa on the sideline of the Informal Consultation on Myanmar in Bangkok. The meeting was also attended by high-level representatives from China, India, Lao PDR and Myanmar.
Though it is not for the first time that Bangladesh has called for a comprehensive roadmap for the voluntary, safe and dignified return of the Rohingyas to Myanmar, Dhaka's pleas fell on deaf ears until now. The reason is mostly the failure of the global powers like the United States, China, Russia and India to make Myanmar military junta government take back the Rohingyas.
As a result, Bangladesh's internal security and regional security as well has been under threat. And if an urgent action has not been taken, this security issue has every possibility to aggravate further to a great extent. Meanwhile, environmental impact is another issue widely discussed as Rohingyas were given shelters by destroying a significant portion of forest areas.
On the other hand, the Human Rights Watch in a recent report warned of surging violence by armed groups and criminal gangs in Rohingya camps mainly in the Cox's Bazar area. Besides, there have been reports of members of the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army carrying out killings, abductions, forced recruitment, extortion and robbery in these camps.
This is why the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Member states should develop a viable mechanism to ensure safety and security for the Rohingyas in Rakhine State, so that they will be inclined to return to Myanmar where they actually belong to.
But Bangladesh has been bearing the brunt of Rohingya crisis. When Myanmar army started crackdown on Rohingyas on August 25, 2017, nearly 800,000 Rohingyas took refuge in Bangladesh on humanitarian grounds. This number of Rohingyas added to around half a million of their refugee brethren already residing in Bangladesh at that time.
Since then, Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have been facing the gravest threats as Myanmar military has continued to carry out a sweeping campaign of massacres, rape and arson in the northern Rakhine State.
This has triggered fears that similar massive exodus of Rohingyas to Bangladesh could take place again. This warning has already been sounded by the United Nations as the rebel Arakan Army intensified its attacks on the forces of Myanmar's ruling junta in recent times.
Amid escalating fighting between Arakan Army and Myanmar forces, some civilians and Myanmar military personnel have entered into Bangladesh. But this time Bangladesh interim government is determined not to open its borders to Rohingyas.
We are in belief that the global community in general and the ASEAN nations in particular will work together for the immediate safe return of Rohingyas from Bangladesh.
