February 21, 2024
DHAKA – The final decision regarding the repatriation of Rohingyas lies with Myanmar, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas said yesterday.
“It depends on the goodwill of Myanmar. But the fact is that the Rohingya community is now living in an inhumane situation,” he said at a closing ceremony of a photo exhibition on Rohingyas organised by the International Rescue Committee in the capital’s Edge Gallery.
Haas said the US will continue to be the largest donor for the humanitarian assistance of the Rohingya.
The comment comes when the civil war in Myanmar is intensifying every day, while thousands of Rohingyas, and members of other ethnic groups, are being displaced by the fighting between the Myanmar junta and Arakan Army.
Over a million Rohingyas have been sheltered in Bangladesh. Most of them fled here in 2017 following a crackdown by the Myanmar military in Rakhine state.
Despite repeated attempts, not a single Rohingya could be repatriated since then. Meanwhile, the process of repatriation has become further complicated due to the current civil war.
Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mizanur Rahman at a panel discussion said, “The Rohingyas are looked at negatively but many of them don’t even know their history. Decades of deprivation and violation of Rohingya rights in Myanmar led to the situation today.
“We all want quick solution to this crisis.”
Dhaka University Prof Saifuddin said the Rohingya crisis is not only a regional problem but a global one.
“Amid various other global conflicts, the [plight of] Rohingyas appear to be a forgotten crisis. This should be kept under global focus.”