Working on three fronts, says foreign adviser on Rohingya crisis

Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain today (26 June) said the government is working on three fronts – uninterrupted flow of foreign funding, keeping the issue alive amid other global crises and ensuring their safe and dignified return.

"The issue should not be forgotten. We continuously bring it to focus. We are working on three fronts," he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During his recent visit to Turkey, the foreign affairs adviser sought intensified humanitarian contributions for Rohingyas, stressing that the pressure on Bangladesh's economy, environment and local communities is unsustainable.

"We are facing mounting humanitarian, developmental and security-related challenges," he said while speaking at the OIC Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee on Accountability for Human Rights Violations against the Rohingyas.

Bangladesh has shown "extraordinary compassion and responsibility" by sheltering over 1.3 million forcibly displaced Rohingyas despite experiencing a snowballing of the crises.

Since November 2023, over 118,000 more Rohingyas have arrived due to renewed violence and instability.

A "high-level conference on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar" will be organised on 30 September 2025 in New York on the sidelines of UNGA.

"We expect high-level participation from the OIC countries," Adviser Touhid said.

The United States and other foreign donor cutbacks in humanitarian aid have worsened the already existing education crisis for 437,000 school-age children in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said Today.

On 3 June 2025, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) suspended thousands of 'learning centers' run by nongovernmental organisations in the refugee camps, for lack of funding.

The only education currently in the Bangladesh refugee camps is at schools established by the Rohingya community without outside support or official recognition.

Bangladesh's interim government should urgently lift restrictions on education for Rohingya refugees, such as lack of accreditation and donors should support community-led schools.

The government should also permit Rohingya children to enroll in schools outside the camps.

"The US and other donor governments are abandoning education for Rohingya children after the previous Bangladesh government long blocked it," said Bill Van Esveld, associate children's rights director at Human Rights Watch.

"The interim Bangladesh government should uphold everyone's right to education, while donors should support the Rohingya community's efforts to prevent a lost generation of students."

In April and May, Human Rights Watch spoke with 39 Rohingya refugee students, parents and teachers in the camps in the Cox's Bazar District, 22 on Bhasan Char island also housing refugees, and 14 international and Bangladeshi teachers, humanitarian workers and education experts.

Most Rohingyas fled persecution and wartime atrocities in Myanmar, where they are effectively denied citizenship and other rights.

In 2024, the US government provided $300 million to respond to the Rohingya refugee crisis, over half of the total amount received by humanitarian agencies. But as of June 2025, the administration of President Donald Trump had slashed aid to $12 million.

By April, the humanitarian education sector in Bangladesh – which funds the learning centers – had secured only about $22 million of its $72 million annual budget and was significantly reducing expenditures.

Out of a target of 437,000 school-age children in the camps, about 304,000 were enrolled in the learning centers, now closed.

Unicef aimed to reopen the learning centers it funded for classes 6 and above by 29 June, and encouraged nongovernmental organisations NGOs to reopen lower classes if they could find other sources of funding.

Rohingya refugees said that community-led schools offered higher-quality education than the learning centers. They hired teachers who had completed most of their upper secondary schooling and classes had multiple teachers who specialised in different subjects.

The community-led schools, unsupported by government or private donor funding, charge parents monthly tuition fees ranging from around $0.50 for class 1 up to $5 for class 12, a barrier to enrollment for some families.

With the learning centers shut down due to the funding crisis, whether or not funding is found to re-open them, the interim Bangladesh government and donors should recognise and fund community-led schools to increase their capacity, Human Rights Watch said.

The interim Bangladesh government should recognise community-led schools, and the United Nations and aid agencies should include Rohingya educators in decision-making and leadership roles, Human Rights Watch said.

Recognition of Rohingya-led schools could encourage donor support and help achieve better instruction for more students.

Bangladesh should follow the example of countries, including Türkiye, that have accredited and certified education for refugee children, including refugee-led schools teaching the curricula of their countries of origin, said the HRW.

"The previous Bangladesh government for years blocked education for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya children because they were refugees," Van Esveld said, adding, "The interim government should reject old policies and support education without discrimination for all children."