State Minister of Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Wednesday said that the government has been observing efforts to “undermine” Bangladesh’s steps for Rohingyas. He stated that no one should obstruct the process of their “experimental” return to Myanmar before “large-scale” repatriation.
“No one knows better than us how to take care of them,” he said on Wednesday, replying to a question, ahead of August 25 that will mark six years since over 700,000 Rohingya women, men and children from Myanmar fled “ethnic cleaning” to Bangladesh.
With them, over 1.1 million Rohingya population are living in the world’s most crowded camps in Cox’s Bazar.
The government has been trying to start the repatriation process with China’s help, but could not be successful because of what the state minister called a lack of “Myanmar’s goodwill”.
The experimental repatriation also drew flak from the international community.
“We always say it's experimental. They will go and stay for a few days or even a month to know the situation and that will help us to conduct large-scale repatriation,” he said, adding that “no one should obstruct that process”.
“We see conspiracy or an undermining of our efforts when we tried to take them to Bhashan Char,” he said, adding that even the big international media without any hesitation labelled that as a “floating island”.
“If someone stayed back in the Cox’s Bazar camps due to those people and died …technically if we analyze…we can say it's because of them (who criticized Bhashan Char),” the state minister said, as the government’s plan to relocate at least 98,000 Rohingyas could not be possible because of those campaigns.
The Cox’s Bazar camp is so crowded that “even a small fire, small landslide can cause serious casualties. Any disease outbreak can cause massive problems,” he said.
The government, meanwhile, shifted 30,000 Rohingyas who were willing to go to Bhashan Char.
Rohingya top priority
The state minister, however, said even after six years the Rohingya issue remained as the “top priority” of the foreign ministry’s agenda.
“At any regional and international forum, the Rohingya issue remains the top priority. This is ongoing. We have been successful in that. We had a primary victory in the ICJ,” he said with reference to developments in Gambia’s case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice.
He said he also raised the issue of the Rohingya crisis during his meeting with Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah on Wednesday.
“The minister also said that unfortunately there was no solution to the issue. They will give their best efforts,” he said.
“But there is one development. It may look small, but it's significant. The Myanmar government is under pressure from Asean,” he said, referring to the Southeast Asian countries’ grouping that put pressure on the Myanmar government to resolve the crisis.
“But the internal politics in Myanmar have stood in the way. Those who helped Myanmar’s democratic process to return, they also tried. Aung San Suu Kyi came to power. But she failed,” he said, adding that a lack of“Myanmar’s goodwill” was the number one reason behind the prolonged crisis.
Bangladesh highest contributor in humanitarian conduct
Bangladesh still remains the “highest contributor” in humanitarian conduct for the Rohingya population, the state minister said.
The United Nations has been providing humanitarian assistance to the Rohingyas under the Joint Response Plan (JRP). In 2022, 62% of support came against the JRP demand, the lowest in previous years.
The state minister, however, said a 38% deficit in a budget could cause “big problems”.
“The system should collapse. But it did not happen. We wanted to know the details since we are not part of the process. We also wanted to know the administrative costs,” he said, casting doubts about the demand.
“Nobody dared to say anything about that (fund issue). But our Prime Minister has said that many have their own angles in this activity (of the Rohingya crisis).
“We hope that necessary funds will come. We have also proposed a regional conference for fund raising,” he said.
“We always uphold our commitment to a voluntary and dignified return by the Rohingyas. Even experimental ones are also voluntary,” he said, adding that the Rohingyas’ demand for safety and security should be fulfilled by Myanmar.
“It’s an absence of Myanmar’s goodwill,” he said when asked what stood in the way of resolving the crisis most.
“We used to say it’s a challenge for regional stability, and law and order situation. Now it's a reality. Gun running and drug trafficking have increased. Even members of our law enforcement agencies were also killed.”
“Bangladesh’s efforts should not be undermined. Then it will be difficult for us to make any effort,” he said.
“Nobody asked us…our Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina) based on her experience gave them shelter. She didn’t make any mistakes. With leadership in many instances in the world, they (refugees) were mistreated. That does not mean we will follow them. As long as they are in Bangladesh, we know better how to take care of them than any other country,” said the state minister.