Staff Reporter :
The politicians and the experts said that the government and the international bodies failed to play their due role in a bid to start the Rohingya repatriation process in the last five years.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said though the Rohingya crisis is a global issue, but the government could not persuade the international community to take active role to send them back home.
On the other hand, the experts opined that Bangladesh should not take any hasty step in dealing with the Rohingya repatriation, rather it should go ahead with complete preparation.
Meanwhile, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir in a press conference on
Rohingya exodus anniversary in the capital on Thursday said, “The Rohingya crisis is not issue of Bangladesh alone, but a global issue so the government should have worked to get compact international support in helping the Rohingya to return to their homes. But the government failed.”
Slamming the government for its failure to begin Rohingya repatriation, he said, “The government has completely failed.”
In a written statement, he said, “The international community did not respond to resolve Rohingya crisis, the way it responds to other global humanitarian crisis. It is nothing but the government’s utter diplomatic failure.”
“The repatriation process has been stalled. The government has failed to take effective steps to expedite the process. The world community is not considering this crisis seriously,” he added.
Mentioning the changeover of government in Myanmar, he said, “The Rohingya issue has become more difficult after the military coup in Myanmar in 2021. Unless China, India, Japan, UK and EU countries take effective measures, it is not possible to send them back.”
Drawing attention to implementation of bilateral and multilateral agreements, he said, “The United Nations, regional organisations and the superpowers should have specific role to address it.”
“Bangladesh has to persuade the international bodies including the UN about the limitation of Bangladesh to resolve it alone,” he noted.
In reply to a query, BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said, “Bangladesh has failed in political, economic and social fields regarding Rohingya issue. Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia succeeded in sending them back.”
He also said that the government might start the repatriation process by sending some Rohingyas before election to show that they have succeeded.
Regarding the repatriation, he said, “If the government wants to do anything without ensuring voluntary, sustainable and dignified repatriation, it will not be accepted by the Rohingyas, international community and the people of the country.”
Sounding critical for not having any active role of the government, this BNP leader said, “The government was in a dilemma in the beginning. A case is going on in International Court of Justice with the support of Gambia. Bangladesh has no role here.”
Amir Khasru said that the government did not have any negotiating capacity which was their utter failure.
“The unelected and illegal government has no negotiation capacity. The government is paying more attention to rehabilitation rather than repatriation,” he added.
