The Rohingya crisis

The call of the prime minister to the world body to do more for a permanent resolution of the Rohingya crisis, of which the only country to have suffered and endured the brunt has been Bangladesh, needs to be iterated constantly. It must be said that the UN for its part has tried to see a peaceful and permanent solution of the catastrophe, entirely the making of Myanmar, and also to ameliorate the sufferings of the Rohingya refugees through its relevant agencies. But a political resolution has been repeatedly stonewalled by several countries, bringing all efforts of the UN in this regard to naught.

And this is where, we feel, the UN's diplomatic acumen and potency need to be exercised to its capacity to convince some of the permanent members of the Security Council, to put petty economic and commercial interests aside for the wider consideration of human rights and dignity of an ethnic minority made victim of whimsical policies and predatory actions of a military junta.

For its part Bangladesh has done all that is possible. But that has not been without the attendant costs on the environmental, human and social levels. The security concerns that stem from a situation where nearly a million people of various ages are penned in a very restricted area cannot be overlooked. It's past the time for laudatory comments on how well Bangladesh has done to accommodate the Rohingyas, instead some practical actions like engaging the Myanmar authorities more intensely and convincing them to ensure a peaceful environment for the Rohingyas to return should be taken. Time has come to work on a definitive timeframe and getting all the stakeholders to commit to stick to it.