Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said Bangladesh is committed to the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable repatriation of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals (FDMN) to their own country, and that coordinated regional and international diplomatic efforts are being strengthened further to ensure it.
He was speaking as chief guest at a seminar on Sunday in the Antara Hall of the Radisson Blu Water Garden hotel in the capital.
The seminar was chaired by Major General Fazle Elahi Akbar (retd), chairman of the FSDS. Md Ismail Zabiullah, the prime minister’s adviser on public administration, who holds the rank of minister, spoke as special guest.
The home minister said Bangladesh’s efforts alone are not enough for the sustainable repatriation of the displaced Myanmar nationals; a strategic regional alliance and a coordinated approach are needed with all the stakeholders concerned, among them China, Asean, the United Nations and Japan.
He said Sasakawa, the Japanese government’s special envoy for national reconciliation in Myanmar and chairman of the Nippon Foundation, visited Bangladesh very recently. During the visit the prime minister and he himself discussed the matter with him in detail, and the Japanese government has given an assurance of full cooperation. The prime minister is also due to visit Japan towards the end of this month, when speeding up the repatriation process will be discussed further.
Referring to the changed geopolitical and security situation in Rakhine State, the minister said that besides the de jure government, a large part of the state is under the control of the Arakan Army (AA). In the present context, therefore, a solution is being sought through various diplomatic channels, including informal contacts. Peaceful repatriation is the main goal, he said, and Bangladesh will continue diplomatic dialogue while keeping all paths open as a final option.
The public administration adviser said the Rohingya crisis is not only a humanitarian problem or a bilateral matter; it is deeply bound up with national interest, regional stability and international geopolitics. Given the many-sided complexity of the crisis over past decades and the changed political and military context in Myanmar, he said, “we must now move from crisis management to strategic diplomacy, from temporary relief to sustainable repatriation, and from fragmented initiatives to a coordinated national strategy”. He also stressed ensuring the Rohingya’s safe and dignified return to their own land by putting pressure on the international community and Myanmar, alongside their human rights and protection.
Speaking to journalists after the seminar, the home minister said the election of Bangladesh’s representative as president of the UN General Assembly this year has created an opportunity to raise the repatriation issue more forcefully with the international community. He expressed optimism that a path to sustainable repatriation can be found quickly through discussion with the international community, with the cooperation of neighbours and of China, Japan, India, the United States and the European Union.
Three papers were presented at the seminar. In the first, Professor Dr ASM Ali Ashraf dealt with the political and security context in the changed reality of Myanmar and Rakhine. In the second, Professor Shahab Enam Khan presented a paper on development, connectivity and repatriation in Rakhine. In the third, Brigadier General Shafaat Ahmad, PhD (retd), set out proposals on regional diplomacy and Bangladesh’s strategic options.
In the discussion of the papers, speakers stressed that repatriation is not only the physical resettlement of people; the key to a lasting solution is ensuring favourable conditions for those who return, such as security, citizenship, housing, livelihoods and acceptance by local communities.
Diplomats from home and abroad, representatives of international organisations, retired military officers, researchers, academics and representatives of various news media were present.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report