Be vigilant in resolving the Rohingya crisis

This year's World Refugee Day is being observed globally, focusing on the unprecedented burden of the largest number of refugees in history. Over 10 crore 10 lakh people worldwide are displaced. People are being forcibly displaced from their homes due to conflicts, famine, and regional instability, exacerbating environmental crises. Since 2001, June 20th has been designated as International Refugee Day to raise awareness among international leaders about the inhumane conditions faced by refugees worldwide.

To protect refugees who are displaced, persecuted, or have fled their home countries and facilitate their safe return or appropriate resettlement, the United Nations or UNHCR works. Unfortunately, leading nations of the world, including the United Nations, are failing to effectively repatriate refugees to their homes. Instead of focusing on fundamental solutions to the refugee crisis, they prefer to spend vast amounts of money on humanitarian advertising. Even this fund is now decreasing significantly. In 2023, this fund had a deficit of $36 billion.

The situation is even more alarming for Bangladesh. For almost seven years, Bangladesh has been hosting nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees. In comparison to the demand of the Rohingya crisis, only 25% of the required funding was received in 2023. As a result, apart from the Rohingya relief programs, the Bangladeshi government is spending over $1.2 billion annually. When Bangladesh is struggling to manage these expenses, the World Bank has proposed providing loans. Bangladesh is already burdened by a significant amount of debt.The loan amount per capita is 580 dollars. Taking loans for humanitarian needs will further exacerbate Bangladesh's problems.

In such a situation, repatriation remains the only option. Without the repatriation of the Rohingya, there is no alternative. This debt will further burden Bangladesh alongside the Rohingya crisis. According to a news report published on June 8, nine civil society organizations have organized a protest in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka against Bangladesh's decision not to accept the World Bank loan regarding the Rohingya crisis. At a gathering organized by the Equity and Justice Working Group (EquityBD), speakers mentioned that while the Bangladesh government seeks assistance for the development of affected local communities due to the Rohingya crisis, the World Bank has stated that Bangladesh needs to take loans for this purpose.

On the other hand, the government is consistently expressing disapproval of recognizing those Rohingya who have sought refuge in Bangladesh at various times due to persecution by the military in Myanmar as "refugees". Many experts on refugees believe that Rohingyas are eligible to be recognized as refugees and that it is appropriate to grant them that status. This is because, according to international refugee law, Rohingya should be declared as "refugees". Instead, the government is often facing criticism and causing harm in many instances by not acknowledging them as such.

On the contrary, many others argue that it is the right decision for Bangladesh to facilitate the return of Rohingyas to their homeland. Those Rohingyas who arrived in Bangladesh before 1992 were recognized as refugees. At that time, almost 32,000 refugees returned from Bangladesh. However, those Rohingya who have crossed the border into Bangladesh after 1992 have not been recognized as refugees anymore. They are being termed as "forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals".

If these Rohingya "refugees" or "forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals" cannot be repatriated to their country in any way, it will constitute a major national crisis for Bangladesh. The crisis is already beginning to have significant impacts on the country's economy, law and order. It's likely to worsen in the future. Therefore, it's imperative for the Bangladesh government to act promptly to expedite the resolution of the Rohingya crisis.