Bangladesh must ramp up efforts to solve Rohingya crisis: Analysts

The Rohingya crisis has gotten more complicated since the takeover by the Myanmar military junta, said analysts, calling for Bangladesh to ramp up its efforts on all frontiers to resolve this issue.

With the bleak possibility of the repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar from refugee camps in Bangladesh, the crisis is only set to get worse, they said.

The observations came at a roundtable jointly organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) and Dhaka Tribune on "Revisiting the Rohingya Crisis: What Lies Ahead?" at the Westin Dhaka on the May 22.

The roundtable was attended by a number of diplomats, scholars, security experts, and youth representatives from various disciplines.

Shafqat Munir, research fellow at BIPSS highlighted the contemporary situation and said Bangladesh has to ramp up its approaches on all frontiers to resolve this issue, which is becoming more entrenched.

Asif Munier, an independent researcher, introduced the vulnerabilities that the Rohingya youth face in terms of being exposed to radicalisation and different violent militant outfits.

He further talked about the disconnect with the Rohingya refugees following the death of Mohib Ullah and the vacuum it has left in leadership.

Air Vice Marshall Mahmud Hussain (retd), vice chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University, talked about the wider geo-political ramifications of the issue and the reaction it will induce from across the region and abroad.

He also highlighted how Bangladesh might want to consider reinventing its foreign policy approaches.

Moreover, he talked about the necessity to draw the attention of major players like the United States and underline the importance of solving this issue to preserve and promote the Indo-Pacific Strategy in the upcoming days.

Shafqat Munir emphasised the necessity for a pragmatic yet humanitarian approach, while also stressing the need to develop Bangladesh's own capability and ensure the strengthening of its institutions.

He also remarked that Bangladesh should develop an early warning mechanism to better understand situations like these, and take preemptive actions to either prevent or alleviate the consequences.