'Bangladesh seeks Malaysia’s support to resolve Rohingya crisis'

Bangladesh hopes to leverage Malaysia’s influence as ASEAN chair to strengthen international efforts in resolving the long-standing Rohingya refugee crisis, Chief Adviser (CA) Dr. Muhammad Yunus said in an exclusive interview with Malaysian state media Bernama.

Dr. Yunus highlighted Malaysia’s unique role, citing its experience in hosting Rohingya refugees and its leadership in the Southeast Asian regional bloc. “We hope Malaysia will use its influence throughout the discussions so that we can overcome this problem,” he said.

The CA warned that ongoing clashes between the Arakan Army and Myanmar troops in Rakhine State have intensified the crisis, forcing an estimated 150,000 new Rohingya refugees to flee to Bangladesh over the past 18 months. Bangladesh is already hosting 1.2 million Rohingya, he added, noting that the suspension of US funding has further strained resources.

To address the crisis, Yunus said Bangladesh will organize three international conferences in the coming months: the first in Cox’s Bazar later this month, the second alongside the UN General Assembly in September, and a third in Doha by year-end.

Bernama noted that Rohingya repatriation efforts have seen little progress since 2021, and the humanitarian situation continues to affect Bangladesh as well as several ASEAN countries, including Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Malaysia currently hosts around 150,000 Rohingya refugees on humanitarian grounds, despite not being a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol.