Strategy paper on Rohingyas being prepared
Published : Sunday, 26 May 2013
Syful Islam
Bangladesh is preparing a strategy paper on how to handle Rohingya refugees and illegal intruders from Myanmar, official sources said.
A draft of the paper now awaits a review by the inter-ministerial coordination body, prior to its approval by the cabinet soon.
"We are preparing the strategic paper at our own efforts on how to handle the refugees coming from Myanmar," foreign secretary (in-charge) Shahidul Haque told the FE last Friday.
He said: "We are waiting for feedback from the ministries concerned on the draft. After getting their views, we will finalise it for our next course of action."
Replying to a question, Mr Haque said the refugee issue will be discussed during the second, two-day Bangladesh-United States partnership dialogue, beginning from today (Sunday).
"But we will not have any discussion on the strategy paper in that meeting," he said.
According to the draft of the strategy paper, some 500,000 Myanmar nationals entered Bangladesh following ethnic and religious conflicts there during 1978-79 and also later between 1991 and 1992. A good number of them were repatriated in phases with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) but some 30,000 are still staying in two refugee camps in Cox's Bazar due to the refusal by the government of Myanmar to accept them.
Some 300,000 more Myanmar nationals, mainly Muslim minorities, entered Bangladesh illegally during the last seven years on grounds of being subjected to torture in Myanmar. Besides, many Rohingyas tried to enter Bangladesh amid violence from the Rakhine state, during the period between June and October 2012.
Officials said every year Bangladesh spends more than Tk 300 million to provide food and other facilities to the refugees living in the two camps.
They said many of the illegally-entered refugees have allegedly become involved in unlawful activities, causing social and economic unrest in the country. Some of them have gone abroad as Bangladeshi nationals by managing to obtain passports illegally from Bangladesh.
This has cast a negative impact on the country's image, they observed.
Amid thus situation, the government has decided not to allow any more refugees from Myanmar and stop their entrance, in the greater national interest of Bangladesh, the draft mentioned.
Officials have identified weak infrastructure on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border as the main reason behind refugees' attempt to intrude into the Bangladesh territory.
The draft paper suggested that the manpower of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) should immediately be increased on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border sites to ensure stoppage of refugees' entrance.
It also recommended for installation of barbed wire fence on the Bangladesh side of the border and construction of a 50-kilometre embankment on the bank of the Naf river so that law enforcers can patrol the areas through motorised vehicles.
Furthermore, the recommendation was made for increasing the manpower of the coastal guard and the capacity of its personnel for stepping up their patrol operations in the Bangladesh-Myanmar riverine border zones and off-shore areas.
The proposal has also been made to raise the level of vigilance operations by the local administration and the BGB so that no Myanmar national can illegally enter into Bangladesh by abusing the border trade facility between the two countries.
The paper suggested that a survey should be carried out to prepare proper estimates about the number of refugees of, and illegal entrants from, Myanmar, now staying in Bangladesh. After the survey, they would be kept in several shelter centres for the purpose of repatriation.
It also suggested that law enforcers and local administration should take punitive actions against people providing any kind of political, social, and economic support to those illegally staying in Bangladesh.
Furthermore, the strategy paper recommended for engaging Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and local non-government organisations (NGOs), instead of foreign NGOs, for providing food, nutrition, sewerage, and safe drinking water.
It also stressed the need for continuous diplomatic negotiations for repatriation of the refugees of Myanmar origin and those who illegally entered from there into Bangladesh.