"If the Biharis (stranded Pakistanis) are not helped, they will go to other people for help, which may lead to troubles," she said while addressing a roundtable at the British Council auditorium in Dhaka. The Dhaka Initiative and the British Council organised the roundtable titled 'A solution to the Bihari issue'.

Leaving young people of the Bihari community out of education, healthcare and other basic needs is dangerous for all, said Tonge, who is also a trustee of The Dhaka Initiative.

Baroness Tonge, now on a three-day visit to Bangladesh, informed the roundtable that the UK government and the European Parliament, under their strategy paper for Bangladesh, have initiated a project in the Bihari camps to improve their status.

Presently, The Dhaka Initiative is conducting a survey on the condition of the Biharis across the country and their opinions about whether they want to live in Bangladesh or return to Pakistan.

The Biharis who want to return to Pakistan should be helped and those don't should also be helped in their settlement in Bangladesh under the national and international legal framework on an urgent basis, Tonge stressed.

According to a rough estimate by the Refugee and Migratory Movement and Research Unit (RMMRU), there are about four or five lakh Biharis living in the country. And 75 percent of them were born here after the War of Liberation in '71.

The survey, which began in December last year and is likely to complete in the next two or three months, suggests that more than 90 percent of the Biharis expressed their willingness to stay in Bangladesh, as they were born here and are accustomed to this society, said Nigel McCollum, another trustee of The Dhaka Initiative.

They, however, need to be recognised in the social, cultural and political contexts, including voting rights, he said.

RMRRU Coordinator Prof CR Abrar, who chaired the roundtable, said the issue of the Biharis should be brought to the table for thorough consultations.

Other participants stressed the need for providing basic amenities to the Biharis.

Prof Quazi Quamruzzaman of The Dhaka Initiative, Dr Tasneem Siddiqui of RMMRU, Khushi Kabir of Nijera Kori, Advocate Sultana Kamal of Ain O Salish Kendro, Farida Akhter of Ubinig and Syeda Rizwana Hassan of BELA also spoke.