Rohingya crisis: The maze of repatriation
The Rohingya crisis currently stands as the greatest threat to Bangladesh’s national security and sovereignty. Recently, it has been further complicated by debates over transit corridors and incidents of push-in operations where India has forcibly sent some registered Rohingyas into Bangladesh. In March, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Bangladesh’s interim government’s Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus visited Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar and gave hopeful messages about repatriating the Rohingyas to their homeland in Rakhine. There were reports that as many as 180,000 Rohingyas might be repatriated to Myanmar. However, those hopes quickly proved unrealistic. Moreover, since the interim government took charge nine months ago, at least 100,000 new Rohingyas have entered Bangladesh. As a result, Bangladesh's burden is increasing, and the issue of Rohingya repatriation is becoming entangled in a complex web of regional and international politics, with no immediate resolution in sight.