At Bangkok meet, Bangladesh pitches roadmap for safe repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar

Dhaka, Dec 20 (Representative) Bangladesh interim government’s Foreign Advisor Touhid Hossain pitched a roadmap to senior officials of four neighbouring countries, including India, for the safe repatriation of Rohingya refugees in a time-bound manner.Touhid made the proposal during an informal ministerial consultation on Myanmar in Bangkok, that also saw the presence of Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. Chaired by Thailand’s Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, the meeting was also attended by Myanmar Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister U Than Swe and delegations from India, China, Laos and Cambodia, as per The Daily Star. “Bangladesh has every interest to see lasting peace, stability and democracy in Myanmar, and a conducive environment in Rakhine State for the Rohingya to have confidence to go back there in safety and dignity,” he said, according to a statement released by the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Already suffering from both political instability and growing economic problems, Bangladesh is reported to have also lost significant territory in an armed attack by the Arakan Army. The Myanmar based rebel group fighting for independence from the junta already controls more than 80 percent of Rakhine State as well as major parts of Bangladesh’s Teknaf region, gaining full control of the 271-kilometre border stretch between the two countries, worsening the refugee crisis in Dhaka, reports said.More than 60,000 refugees fled to Bangladesh in July this year alone, with the country as of now harbouring over a million Rohingyas, who have been fleeing Myanmar since the military crackdown in 2017.

Residing mostly in areas such as Cox’s Bazar, the Rohingya community has been involved in many criminal activities posing a big problem for law enforcement authorities.Hossain urged the ASEAN countries along with other key regional actors to play a further pro-active role in restoring peace, security and democracy in Naypyitaw.He also raised concerns over the ongoing armed conflicts along the border areas as well as transnational organised crimes, involving drugs, arms, and human trafficking, as well as greater intelligence sharing and cooperation among the concerned law enforcement and border agencies for combating transnational crimes. The Foreign Adviser’s roadmap pointed to the three-point proposals made by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in September this year, that includes establishing a safe zone guaranteed by the UN in Rakhine State.He had also hoped that the International Conference on the Rohingya issue would be held in the first part of 2025, as decided by UNGA Third Committee. As per the Foreign Affairs Ministry, during the meeting the heads of Chinese and Indian delegations reaffirmed their support for a Myanmar-led and owned peace process for durable regional security and development. They flagged their respective efforts to promote dialogues among different parties in Myanmar to help them find common grounds for an inclusivity and stability in Myanmar. The Thai Minister also underscored the significance of the consultation, highlight greater cooperation amongst neighbours to ensure law and order, along with restoration of democracy in Myanmar.