With every passing day the Rohingya crisis is becoming more and more complex in Bangladesh. A few days back some Rohingya refugees were arrested for submitting false documents to obtain passports. Reportedly, already some of them have got passports through some agents in collaboration with unscrupulous officials.
The assembly of thousands of Rohingyas last month to press home their demands got viral raising questions as to how they could congregate in such a large number in the camp. The presence of a Rohingya leader in the office of US president a couple of months back is another issue that raised many questions in Bangladesh.
The refusal of Myanmar for quick and peaceful repatriation of its nationals from the soil of Bangladesh despite requests by the world community including the UN has become a serious cause of concern for us. We had opened our doors on humanitarian ground and given shelter to 1.1 million Rohingayas who were subjected to atrocities in the hands of Myanmar army two years back. It was a general understanding that the conflicting situation would die down soon and the refugees would go back to their country in a peaceful manner. But, nothing of the sort happened till now.
The Myanmar authority should
understand that no other country would
carry the burden of their crime for long
As said earlier, the crisis is getting complex and has begun to threat the country’s security and social stability. Crimes of different dimensions, such as murder, drug trading, trafficking, are being committed in the camps. A local Jubo league volunteer has been murdered outside the camps by a Rohingya criminal. And to top it all, some NGOs are encouraging the refugees to stay back defying the repatriation plan of the government.
Bangladesh is not a rich country hence it cannot feed 1.1 million extra mouths for an indefinite period of time. This massive number of people has already destroyed our forests on thousands of acres of land and cut down hills to set up camps. The government has to allocate large sums of money for their food, water, shelter and security.
Therefore, it has to stop soon before things really turn explosive. The Myanmar authority should understand that no other country would carry the burden of their crime for long. They must come forward with concrete formula for the early repatriation of their nationals stranded in a foreign land.
