Staff Reporter:
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam yesterday said Bangladesh is continuing its diplomatic efforts to resolve the protracted Rohingya crisis, which has become increasingly compli-cated amid geopolitical and regional realities.
“We are continuing our diplomatic efforts,” she told journalists at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here, acknowledging the complexities surrounding efforts to ensure the safe return of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas to Myanmar.
Her remarks came after Director General (Myanmar) at the foreign ministry Md Toufiq-ur-Rahman raised Bangladesh’s concerns over Myanmar’s latest statement on the Rohingya issue during a meeting with Myanmar Ambassador to Bangladesh U Kyaw Soe Moe yesterday.
Shama said Bangladesh is now facing a difficult situation as the crisis, which escalated with the massive Rohingya influx in 2017, has remained unresolved for nearly a decade.
“We must, of course, acknowledge that we are in a difficult situation. The Rohingya influx began in 2017, and now it is 2026,” she said.
The repatriation process, however, has remained stalled amid conflict and security concerns in My-anmar and the absence of conditions conducive to safe and sustainable return.
Shama said Bangladesh wants the Rohingyas to return to their homeland safely and under normal and secure conditions.
She said Dhaka expects Myanmar to take the matter seriously, stressing that diplomatic rhetoric alone would not resolve the crisis.
“It cannot be addressed merely through wordplay or diplomatic language; we have to translate our words into action,” she said.
The State Minister said Bangladesh is doing everything within its capacity to maintain internation-al pressure on Myanmar.
She referred to an important session on the Rohingya issue scheduled during the UN General As-sembly session in September as well as proceedings before the international court.
“Taking all these factors together, we are trying to exert as much international pressure as possible on Myanmar,” Shama said.
She noted that geopolitical and regional political considerations have added further complexities to resolving the crisis.
Bangladesh is currently hosting more than 1.3 million Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char.
Meanwhile, during his meeting with the Myanmar ambassador, DG Toufiq-ur-Rahman rejected several elements of the Myanmar Foreign Ministry’s August 15 statement on the Rohingya issue, saying they were based on erroneous statistics, particularly regarding the number of displaced Rohingyas.
He said data registered under the United Nations system reflects the accurate number of Rohing-yas and urged Myanmar to expedite their verification under agreed bilateral instruments.
The DG said the verification process should include children born in the camps and new arrivals forced to flee Rakhine State after 2017.
Bangladesh is registering Rohingyas beyond the existing caseload of 828,824 and will share the additional information with Myanmar in due course, he said.
Toufiq-ur-Rahman also objected to referring to the Rohingyas as “Bengalis”, saying they have their own ethnic identity that had been recognised by Myanmar authorities until recent times.
Ambassador Soe Moe assured the DG that he would convey Bangladesh’s concerns and observa-tions to his government and expressed Myanmar’s commitment to expedite verification with a view to beginning repatriation of verified Rohingyas.
The DG reiterated Bangladesh’s position that the only sustainable solution to the crisis lies in the safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation of the Rohingyas to their homeland in Rakhine State.
