The recent announcement of a government project that seeks to build some 50 multipurpose cyclone shelters and schools in Teknaf and Ukhia, as a part of our continued efforts to help the Rohingya population currently under our shelter, is certainly commendable as any steps towards making the lives of the million-plus refugees even that much better is our moral imperative.
Taking things one step further, the government is also factoring in improving relief work related to the Rohingya refugees by building distribution centres and multipurpose community service centres among a raft of other infrastructural projects that would allow the Rohingya some semblance of autonomy within the camps.
Bangladesh has, indubitably, stepped in where the rest of the world barely seems to even recognize the Rohingya crisis as the abject human rights atrocity that it is. But how long can simply relying on a nation as populous as Bangladesh, when it comes to harbouring the Rohingya refugees, be considered feasible?
The truth is, it isn't feasible. It never has been.
Repatriating the Rohingya refugees with safety and dignity is the only way forward, and it is up to the international community to finally step in itself and make that happen. We simply cannot afford to continue housing millions of refugees anymore, and no amount of foreign aid will make the lack of land and infrastructure vanish.
Our country can work to make the lives of these refugees easier, but the ultimate goal is, and always has been, repatriation.
