There are some essential traits that leaders should demonstrate in these difficult times to lead the country.
We must keep the focus on the plight of char people alive and draw attention of the current interim government to address the problem with new approaches, policies, and institutions.
The Rohingya crisis continues to mystify everyone with its uncertainties.
There are plentiful cases of land-grabbing and violence for control over new char or khas land in the country.
International support for the Rohingya people is diminishing by the day.
Displacement due to river erosion is an entirely different story.
China's latest move to advance repatriation still falls short of addressing the Rohingya citizenship issue which is central to the crisis.
It is neither possible nor desirable to eliminate flooding completely, for floods are intricately linked to the very survival of people in this delta country.
There is no dearth of opinion on the Rohingya repatriation issue with political leaders, scholars, and even ordinary people all weighing in with their own views.
There are over a million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, including the latest batch of 800,000 that came after August 25, 2017 and the 250,000 that arrived since the first exodus of mid-1990s.
It is now clear that the Bangladesh government is all set to relocate nearly 100,000 Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char, a remote island off its coast, starting April 2019.
To date, much has been written and said about the Rohingya crisis. The regime in Naypyidaw has literally flouted all international laws and evaded pressures from the international community.
Bangladesh is viewed globally as the “epic centre” for climate disasters. The country, due to its unique location, is battered regularly by extreme weather events such as high floods and tropical cyclone disasters displacing hundreds and thousands of people annually.
In mid-November, the world was watching with apprehension the unfolding drama surrounding the repatriation of the first batch of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar.
I recently attended a public seminar, titled “Resilient Cities: An Integrated Economic Approach to Natural Hazard Risk Mitigation,” held in Vancouver, Canada.
Many reports in recent weeks have highlighted the growing social, economic, environmental and health impacts of Rohingya refugees being settled in Teknaf and other areas of Cox's Bazar.
It is unsurprising that the process of hasty return of the Rohingyas has already faced a snag. The scheduled repatriation of the first
For Bangladesh, the repatriation of the Rohingya refugees with dignity and full citizenship rights remains the only viable solution, but the circumstances surrounding the Rohingya crisis do not look promising for them to safely return to their homeland anytime soon and rebuild their future.
