Stating that there is no quick fix to the Rohingya crisis, former Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations Lord George Mark Malloch Brown on Saturday urged the international community to put pressure on Myanmar to resolve the issue.
"This is a classic dilemma of refugees. The reality is, these [refugee] problems don't lend themselves quick fixes. It's a steady problem," he said while delivering the keynote speech at a symposium titled "The Relevance of the United Nations for Bangladesh: A Prognosis for Partnership" arranged by Cosmos Foundation at a hotel in Dhaka, reports UNB.
Malloch Brown said it requires "a great depth of patience and humanity" on Bangladesh's side to manage this issue because a refugee population of this size is a huge burden.
"I don't disagree with the assertion that not the UN but the states have not been forthcoming on with the political pressure on Myanmar to arrive at a solution," he said.
The former UN high official said a lot of political changes need to occur in Myanmar and the international community must exert pressure on it to secure that change.
"I appeal to Bangladesh for patience," he said, noting that these are not refugees who want to stay but conditions have got to be created to enable them to repatriate.
Malloch Brown said: “One can understand the growing frustration among Bangladesh citizens about this unanticipated burden [presence of Rohingya refugees].
“We all understand the politics of Myanmar, where the military still hold the upper hand and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has defended their actions,” he added.
"I think [the UN] wants to work with Bangladesh in this coming session of the UNGA to make sure that this issue gets the political prominence and it needs to move towards a solution," he said.
Malloch Brown said it is the frustration amongst Bangladeshis as this unanticipated burden on the economy is understandable. "These problems can for a time look quite overwhelming," he noted.
Addressing the event, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque said Bangladesh has always been attaching huge importance to multilateralism since its birth and that still continues.
He said the INGOs have created a huge space to discuss social issues, especially related to human sufferings. "Therefore, the UN faces stiff competition both from the international private organisations and other bodies. And Bangladesh plans to continue to remain active in both areas."
Bangladesh prefers diplomatic engagement
Addressing the event, Planning Minister MA Mannan said Bangladesh would not incite animosity with any neighboring countries.
“Our main objective is to maintain friendship with our neighbouring countries. We cannot change them, we have to be tolerant and patient,” he added, stressing that Bangladesh will resolve any issues through bilateral or multilateral discussions.
Commenting over the Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) final list 2019, he said India is dealing with the people excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam as per their own laws, internally.
“This issue is still developing and we should let it develop before addressing it,” he added.
The minister made the comments in response to a question at the symposium.
Former high commissioner of Bangladesh to India Tariq Karim said Bangladesh has shown a lot of patience over the Rohingya crisis, but there is a limit to such patience.
The symposium was chaired and conducted by Principal Research Fellow of the Institute of South Asian Studies at National University of Singapore Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, and Chairman of Cosmos Foundation Enayetullah Khan.
