Resolving the Rohingya crisis needs a three-pronged diplomatic strategy
Bangladesh now needs to take proactive and well-coordinated action to stop the Rohingya migration and move towards the restoration of their rights
Because of the presence of around one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, concerns have been raised about the safety of the native people. In spite of diplomatic efforts, Myanmar, which has been ruled by a military junta since 2021, has refused to allow its Rohingya citizens to return home, infuriating Bangladesh and jeopardising regional stability.
Serious worries have been raised by the deaths of rebels and military personnel in western Myanmar close to the Bangladeshi border, as well as during attempts to flee to Bangladesh. Over eight thousand Rohingya refugees are thought to have arrived in Bangladesh in the last few months, as reported by local authorities.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who is in charge of Bangladesh's interim administration, stressed the urgency of continuous international attention during a high-level discussion on the Rohingya crisis at the UN General Assembly. He warned that the crisis, if left unattended, might destabilise not just Bangladesh but the entire region.
The Arakan Army (AA) and the Burmese military junta are waging increasing bloodshed in Rakhine State, and the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) is calling on the interim government of Bangladesh to act swiftly and decisively to protect the rights of Rohingya refugees. Due to the continuous violence, many Rohingya have been compelled to travel dangerous distances in an attempt to escape atrocities.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The truth was that the Rohingya refugees' fear of violence upon their return caused previous attempts at repatriation in 2018 and 2019 to fail. The Rohingya population in Rakhine State, where they once made up thirty percent of the population, has seen entire Rohingya communities completely destroyed and replaced with administrative buildings by the Myanmar government.
The Rohingya refugees face numerous challenges; they reside in overcrowded camps and are mostly dependent on humanitarian help. Thousands of migrants were relocated by Dhaka to an island named Bhasan Char. Bangladesh does not provide a route to citizenship for Rohingya refugees; as a result, many are unable to access basic services like education.
Bangladesh's position on the Rohingya refugee crisis is centred on the systematic and humane return of refugees to their ancestral villages in Myanmar. Bangladesh acknowledges that a sizable population of permanent refugees negatively affects the welfare of its people. Bangladesh is trying to get the help of regional and international powers to solve this situation and find a workable solution to this impending catastrophe.
Dr Yunus has also called for a re-evaluation of the current approach to the crisis. He proposed that the UN Secretary General convene an all-stakeholders conference to review the situation and suggest forward-looking solutions.
The US and other European countries may take measures to fill the democratic void in Myanmar if Bangladesh adopts a strong diplomatic position. Bangladesh should deepen its connections with the West by encouraging scholarly, cultural, and commercial contacts in order to win over support and assistance from Western nations. Bangladesh now needs to take proactive and well-coordinated action to stop the Rohingya migration and move towards the restoration of their rights.
On this point, Dr Yunus emphasised the need for energising the Joint Response Plan, which is managed jointly by the UN System and Bangladesh. He highlighted that this resource-raising mechanism requires stronger political backing due to the declining financial support for Rohingya operations.
In addition to re-establishing law and order in the wake of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's forced resignation last month, stabilising a faltering economy, and launching extensive institutional reforms, Yunus and the interim administration face numerous difficult policy challenges, including the Rohingya issue. But thanks in large part to Yunus himself, Bangladesh has an opportunity to confront the refugee situation, we believe.
Professor Yunus, an economist and pioneer of microfinance who won the Nobel Peace Prize, is believed to have strong connections with Western governments and the global donor community. He has the legitimacy to persuasively advocate for more humanitarian relief for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh—the first and most crucial step in resolving the crisis.
The resettlement procedure is the second and trickier phase. The sensible decision by Bangladesh's interim government to not support the Hasina administration's policy of attempting to repatriate some Rohingya back to Myanmar, including involuntarily, is apparent in light of the rapidly worsening situation in that country.
Since few nations have offered to take in Rohingya refugees up to this point, negotiating third-party resettlements won't be simple. (There are 345,000 individuals living in Thailand, Malaysia, and India combined.) With the Rohingya situation in Myanmar swiftly getting worse, Dr Yunus has advocated for a rapid third-country relocation program as a long-term solution.
However, Yunus might be useful in this situation by using his celebrity and connections in the donor community to persuade Western countries to think about accepting refugees. Once more, everything revolves around the interim government's strategic directive, and it is too soon to comment on their thinking. It might be challenging because of the enormity of the Rohingya problem, conflicting objectives of donors, and the reluctance of many governments to accept refugees.
During the UNGA, Dr Yunus rightly pointed out that the international community must seriously support the justice and accountability mechanisms for addressing the genocidal crimes committed against the Rohingya community. He stressed that redressing the injustices perpetrated by the Myanmar military junta is crucial for long-term peace and security in the region.
The interim government continues to hope for the continued efforts of the international community for Rohingya humanitarian operations and their eventual repatriation to their homeland, Myanmar, with safety, dignity, and full rights, as the previous government attempted to do so after the Annan Commission's recommendations but was unsuccessful. Bangladesh's unique period of political upheaval has increased violence and given Rohingya refugees hope again, but they still face an unclear and difficult future.
Is the interim administration able to negotiate political solutions and secure resources for displaced communities? Many people think that Bangladesh's interim administration faces a difficult road ahead, one that will entail striking a balance between the country's residents' aspirations for justice and the pressing needs of its refugees.
The Three-in-One Diplomatic Approach of Professor Yunus, I suggest this be an option to alleviate the long-standing Rohingya predicament. The three-pronged approach to diplomacy respects the international community's sincere desire to ensure adequate funding for the Rohingya, applies consistent but coordinated diplomatic pressure on the Myanmar government to guarantee the Rohingya's safe return, and looks into the possibility of resettling Rohingya in third countries with comparable priorities.
If it is successful, this will be a truly historic moment in the history of Bangladesh as well as the global management of refugees.
Dr Mohammad Tarikul Islam is a professor at the Department of Government and Politics at Jahangirnagar University. He has been a visiting scholar and guest faculty at Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard Universities
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard
