Dhaka/

BNP has alleged that the government has miserably failed to resolve the Rohingya crisis. According to the party, the government could not bring the international community to the side of Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue. Instead, bypassing the international community including the United Nations, Bangladesh signed an agreement with Myanmar regarding the repatriation of the Rohingya. This unrealistic agreement will reduce the international pressure on Myanmar.

BNP organized a seminar titled ‘Rohingya crisis and repatriation strategy’ at a hotel in the capital on Sunday afternoon. These statements were presented on behalf of the party in the seminar. Millions of Rohingya fled Myanmar and entered Bangladesh six years ago.

BNP’s secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at the BNP’s seminar on the Rohingya problem, “This government has failed to solve the Rohingya crisis.” The government could not build international public opinion to increase pressure on Myanmar. Currently, Rohingyas are creating problems for the national security of Bangladesh. Extremism is spreading in the Rohingya camp, there is a gun battle. The government has made a bilateral agreement for the repatriation of Rohingyas, which is almost impossible to implement.

BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury presented the keynote paper titled ‘Rohingya Crisis and Repatriation Strategy’ in the seminar. It is said that currently 1.2 million Rohingya have taken refuge in the country. This number increases to 30 thousand every year as new children are born. Rohingyas are creating problems for the country’s economy. The matter is also a threat to national security. The crisis needs to be urgently resolved by ensuring the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable repatriation of Rohingya with Myanmar citizenship. In order to solve this crisis, it is necessary to bring effective pressure on Myanmar with the help of neighboring countries and international friends.

Two previous attempts at repatriation had failed, the article said. Now under the new agreement, Bangladesh has taken the initiative to repatriate the Rohingyas to Myanmar under the pilot project. BNP considers this new repatriation effort as a ‘trap’. According to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Bangladesh government is forcing Rohingya refugees to return to Myanmar against their will through “misleading” and “forceful” measures.

Abdul Moin Khan, a member of the BNP Standing Committee, believes that the Bangladesh government has failed bilaterally and globally to solve the Rohingya problem. He said that the government has sent a wrong message to the entire international world including Myanmar by rehabilitating the Rohingyas in Bhasanchar. The government’s mismanagement has created a chaotic situation in the Rohingya issue. Now the solution of the Rohingya problem is not in the hands of Bangladesh, it has become a regional and global issue.

People’s Rights Council (Nurul-Rashed) President Nurul Haque said that big neighboring countries and ASEAN countries are not taking any effective steps regarding the Rohingya crisis.

Writer and political analyst Zaheed Ur Rahman said that Bangladesh wants to solve the Rohingya problem bilaterally. As a result, the pressure on the Myanmar government has decreased. Now the discussion and solution is happening exactly as Myanmar wants. Myanmar does not acknowledge the magnitude of the Rohingya problem. Countries like India, China, Russia are not on the side of Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue.

The main article outlines several guidelines for effectively solving the Rohingya problem. These include increasing engagement with the UN and the international community to address the crisis, defining Myanmar’s crimes against the Rohingya as genocide and crimes against humanity, according to a report by the UN’s independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM).

Bangladesh Welfare Party Chairman Syed Muhammad Ibrahim, BNP Dhaka South Convener Abdus Salam, former diplomat Iftekharul Karim, Dhaka University International Relations Department Professor M Shahiduzzaman and others also spoke in the seminar moderated by BNP Organizing Secretary Shama Obaid. According to BNP, representatives of 15 countries including USA, European Union, Japan, Germany, Netherlands were present in the seminar.