Against the backdrop of many incidents, especially the much-talked about August 25 rally, the government has hardened its stand on Rohingyas and decided to fully enforce an earlier decision not to allow anymore of them into the country, senior government and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) officials told Dhaka Tribune.
As there is "no crisis" in Rakhine now, Rohingyas do not need to come to Bangladesh, they said.
The persecuted people were allowed in for first several months after August 25, 2017 on humanitarian grounds, said the officials, adding that situation in Rakhine is nowhere close to the happenigs of that time.
Two government officials, however, told this correspondent that this seems to be a shift in the government’s policy on the heels of the August 25 rally and some violent incidents involving Rohingyas.
Until a few months ago, a very small number of Rohingyas was allowed in, they claimed.
On Saturday, BGB pushed back six Rohingyas to Rakhine, prompting people working for different UN organisations to think if the government has shifted away from its non-refoulement policy.
When contacted, Additional Home Secretary Abu Bakar Siddique said: “This has been our policy a few months after August 25, 2017.”
“Why should we let people of another country to cross to ours? We are not going to let anyone in anymore,” he said.
To a question, Siddique said: “After August 25, we have allowed the Rohingyas for months to take shelter in Bangladesh because the situation was grave in Rakhine and we responded to the humanitarian need as a responsible nation.”
“Now, there is no crisis in Rakhine. Why do they (Rohingyas) need to come to Cox’s Bazar?” he said.
“Now we find that having sheltered them for two years and looked after them, they (Rohingyas) create manifold problems for us. We will not let this happen anymore,” he added.
When asked if the situation deteriorates in Rakhine, the senior official said: “We will take a decision based on the situation.”
BGB Battalion-34 Commander Lt Col Ali Haider Azad Ahmed also said: “We do not and will not allow any more Rohingyas to enter Bangladesh as things in Rakhine are not as were in August, 2017.”
When asked even if Rohingyas in dire need would be denied entry, he said: “We will then assess the situation after consulting our superiors and will try to find the gravity of their trauma and distress.”
When mentioned about the incident of pushing back of six Rohingyas on Saturday, Lt Col Azad said: “The people who were pushed back in Teknaf yesterday (Saturday) were not victims of any crimes. We were pretty convinced those people intended to use Bangladesh to go to Malaysia. It is a case of human trafficking."
“The arrival of Rohingyas has been negligible now anyway. I knew until recently that those who came were to be allowed in,” said a government official wishing to remain anonymous.
“I think the government has shifted its policy due to some recent violent incidents and the rally on August 25, this year marking the second year of latest exodus,” he said.
Another official concurred with his colleague on this.
Meanwhile, the United Nations organisations seem to be "bit puzzled" about the hardened government position.
“I really do not know what is happening. I wish I knew,” said an official of an UN agency.
“We are trying to find out if the there has been any change to the government policy of non-refoulement,” said an official of another UN agency.
A senior government official said: “An official of an UN agency approached me to know if the government has shifted away from its policy.”
