One of the hurdles in the ongoing process of trying to send the 1 million Rohingya refugees currently residing in Bangladesh is the lack of confidence among the Rohingyas. In that regard, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged Myanmar to build confidence among the refugees and give them the assurance they need to go back to their homes.
In 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingyas fled an ethnic cleansing campaign in Myanmar and sought refuge in neighboring Bangladesh. Since then, the now more than a million refugees have been living in makeshift camps in Cox’s Bazaar.
However, tensions run high between Bangladeshis and Rohingyas, as many of the refugees have been caught involved in illegal activities such as drug peddling, human
trafficking, and other crimes. Bangladeshis are worried for their safety as it is becoming impossible to confine the refugees within the camps and many are bringing harm to society.
The international community must come
together to put due pressure on Myanmar
to reintegrate the Rohingya
back into their homeland
Earlier, at the UN General Assembly, PM Hasina presented a four-point plan to resolve the crisis which demands Myanmar to manifest clear political will to repatriate the Rohingyas to Myanmar, for Myanmar to build trust among the Rohingyas, for the country to guarantee the safety of the Rohingyas and for the international community to address the human rights violation that took place against the Rohingyas.
So far, Myanmar is far from expressing their strong will to repatriate the Rohingya. There are fears that Myanmar still harbors genocidal intent, and that harm may befall the returnees as well as those who were left behind in Rakhine state of Myanmar.
The international community must come together to put due pressure on Myanmar to reintegrate the Rohingya back into their homeland. The international community must remain vigilant when it comes to human rights violations against the Rohingya. They must ensure that Myanmar cannot carry out any more atrocities and violent ethnic cleansing against the Rohingyas.
