The cabinet on Monday instructed the authority concerned to begin a census of illegal Rohingyas in the country in order to determine the real number of Rohingyas that have been living in Bangladesh as illegal immigrants.
The instruction was given while the cabinet discussed the “Strategic paper on the illegal immigration of Myanmar’s citizens to Bangladesh.”
At the meeting, the cabinet gave its nod to the strategic paper submitted by the foreign ministry. The regular cabinet meeting was held on Monday at the secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters that two types of Myanmar citizens have been living in Bangladesh.
“We don’t have the exact figures, but it was learned that there are about 300,000-500,000 illegal Myanmar migrants in Bangladesh, which are creating socio-economic problems in the country. Hence, the cabinet has given an order to begin a census of illegal Myanmar migrants,” he added.
A total of 25,000 Myanmar citizens have been documented and the rests are undocumented.
The cabinet also instructed the authority concerned to strengthen patrolling across the Bangladesh-Myanmar border to prevent illegal entrance.
The decision to ensure a supply of adequate food, drinking water and basic human needs for documented Myanmar citizens was also made at the meeting.
According to the strategic paper, two comprehensive bodies would need to be formed to coordinate relief activities for Myanmar migrants that have been living in two camps in Cox’s Bazar.
A national coordination committee will be formed under the leadership of the foreign minister, while a national taskforce will be constituted under the leadership of the foreign secretary.
Different taskforces will also be formed under the leadership of the deputy commissioners (DC) concerned and the upazila nirbahi officers (UNO) of Cox’s Bazar district.