More than 1.1 million Rohingyas, forcibly displaced from Myanmar, have been living in Bangladesh for over four years. Despite an agreement with Myanmar over their safe repatriation, not a single Rohingya has been taken by that South East Asian country. Myanmar is actually doing nothing to create a conducive environment for the repatriation of Rohingya. The country is not even keeping its promise to the United Nations (UN). In the meantime, a military coup has taken place in Myanmar. The junta chief has ruled out any possibility of taking back the Rohingyas. As a result, deep uncertainty has shrouded the crucial issue of Rohingya repatriation. In this situation, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed her concern at Ganobhaban over the Rohingya repatriation to Volkan Bozkir, president of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday morning.
Myanmar signed a deal with Bangladesh over the Rohingya repatriation in 2017. After quite a few years, the country has done nothing on the issue. The world community, including the United Nations Organisation, too repeatedly expressed their concern over Myanmar’s ‘progress’ to take back its citizens in a safe and secure environment. Very understandably, they raised question over the clear intention of the country. It is not surprising at all from the unsubstantiated avowal of an unfaithful ‘friend’ of Bangladesh. It is not that such a deal was not signed before when Myanmar kept its words in repatriating Rohingyas. Every time we saw they created a smokescreen over the entire issue to keep the international community uninformed about their real intention of breaking promises. That very practice might have encouraged the country to repeatedly ignore the pressure imposed by the international community.
Myanmar is our closest neighbour – at least in terms of distance – and for that very reason, we have got to keep relations with it. But the truth is that a neighbour should behave like a neighbour. The country, before and after the 2017 deal, has not done anything to assure Bangladesh and the global community of anything positive over the issue. Rather, it has showed how fast and to what extent ethnic cleansing can be done where the world community could do nothing but only expressing their deep shock.
Even after all these, we do not want to lose confidence in the international community, and at the same time, will be hoping that they cling to their policy, as ever, of putting constant pressure on the Myanmar military junta in office. On the other hand, Myanmar must create an environment that will encourage the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to go back to their ancestral land with spontaneity, safety and confidence without any fear of torture, rape and killing. Things rest only on Myanmar.
Not only 1.1 million Rohingyas who have come in recent times, but many more Rohingyas have been staying in Bangladesh for decades. They are now trying to integrate into the society of Bangladesh. So, Bangladesh needs to move forward with the right decision regarding Rohingyas. We need to try a quick repatriation. Until then, specific steps need to be taken on where to keep them, how to prevent them from spreading inside the country. At the same time, adequate initiatives should be taken to protect the living standards of the local people of Cox’s Bazar.
