Rohingyas in bhasan char: US finally gets on board

The US yesterday agreed to provide financial assistance for the Rohingyas in Bhasan Char, which can help mitigate the funding challenges for those sheltered in the island, said Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen.

Bangladesh and UN signed an MoU in October last year, but the US initially refrained from funding amid severe criticism of relocation of Rohingyas from Cox's Bazar to the island in Noakhali. Currently, around 20,000 Rohingyas are living in the island.

The government wants to relocate at least 80,000 more people who have sought refuge in Bangladesh from a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine State.

"They [US] will extend their hand in Bhasan Char. This is a new thing. We thanked them," he told reporters at the Foreign Service Academy yesterday after a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organisation Affairs Michele J Sison.

Sison said the relocation must be voluntary.

More than $881 million is needed this year to support approximately 14 lakh people, including 9,20,000 Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char, but as of June, only 13 percent of the fund has been disbursed.

Momen said Dhaka updated Sison the status of the nearly one million Rohingyas sheltered in the camps in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char and the various funding and other challenges the country has been facing for their prolonged stay in the country.

He said Dhaka also sought US's assistance in The Gambia's Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar and also expressed gratitude towards the Biden Administration for determining atrocities against Rohingyas as genocide early this year.

Dhaka also spoke about the possibility of third-country resettlement of the Rohingyas, but noted that repatriating them to Myanmar was the best solution.

The foreign secretary was asked if there could be any problems when Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed, one of the seven police officials sanctioned by the US in December last year, attends the third UN Chiefs of Police Summit at the UN headquarters in New York from August 31 to September 1.

"Let's see … if there is no problem, we are hoping he can attend. If there is any problem, we will try to learn it beforehand," Momen said.

There is a "gentleman's agreement" under UN norms that will allow Benazir to attend the event, he said.

"But in my experience, there have been a few exceptions to this rule. It is difficult to predict until it happens."

Asked if there is any risk that the US immigration will deny Benazir entry, Masud said they have not yet spoken about it but may inquire. "As a government order has been issued, it means he [Benazir] has plans to go."

Sison also talked about food security, climate change and freedom of speech and human rights as well.

"We said we are plugging the loopholes of the Digital Security Act. We want the law not to be applied in a manner that [negatively] affects anybody," Momen said.

A German consultant is working on how to improve the application of the act, he added.

The foreign secretary sought the US State Department support in withdrawing the sanctions imposed on Rab and seven of its current and former officials.

Sison said it was a legal matter and Dhaka should engage accordingly, which Momen said Dhaka was doing.

Momen said Bangladesh agreed to work with the US on holding an event on tackling future pandemics on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next month. It is testimony to Bangladesh's success in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sison also held a meeting with UN representatives in Dhaka, Bangladesh officials of different ministries and discussed issues around Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).