Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Thursday said that without a sustainable solution, the Rohingya crisis could soon pose a serious threat to regional security.
Touhid made the comment while speaking at a high-level discussion of the United Nations Security Council titled “Impact of Poverty, Underdevelopment, and Conflict on International Peace and Security.”
According to a press release from the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh in New York, for over the past eight years, Bangladesh has been sheltering more than 1.2 million Rohingyas out of humanitarian responsibility.
However, due to the protracted nature of the crisis, it is no longer merely a humanitarian issue; it has now become an economic, environmental, and increasingly a security concern.
Referring to the brutal persecution faced by the Rohingyas in their home country of Myanmar, the adviser made an earnest appeal to the international community to take immediate and effective steps to ensure their safe and dignified repatriation with full rights.
Highlighting the pride of youth, he noted that young people have always been at the forefront of change in Bangladesh’s history: from the Language Movement of 1952 to the Liberation War of 1971 and even the recent July uprising, Bangladeshi youth have consistently raised their voices against injustice and inequality.
Touhid said that if young people are deprived of education and employment opportunities, they could easily fall victim to extremism.
Moreover, if poverty, inequality, and developmental deficits persist in the long term, these issues could ultimately lead to violence and instability, he added.
Citing global political and economic inequalities, he referenced Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus’s “Three Zeros” policy, emphasizing the vision for a peaceful and stable future marked by zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero net carbon emissions.
He said that to achieve this vision, efforts toward development and peacebuilding must be integrated.
Reaffirming Bangladesh’s commitment to building a prosperous, just, and peaceful world, the adviser pledged to continue working in close cooperation with international partners.
Alongside Bangladesh, the foreign ministers of Sweden, Uruguay, and Timor-Leste, as well as the minister of state for foreign affairs of Germany and other high-level representatives from various countries, also spoke at the meeting.
