Working on three fronts, says Touhid on Rohingya crisis

Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain today said the government is working on three fronts -- uninterrupted flow of foreign funding, keeping the issue alive amid other global crises, and ensuring their safe and dignified return.

"The issue should not be forgotten. We continuously bring it to focus. We are working on three fronts," he told reporters at the foreign ministry.

During his recent visit to Turkiye, Touhid sought intensified humanitarian contributions for Rohingyas, stressing that the pressure on Bangladesh's economy, environment and local communities is unsustainable.

"We are facing mounting humanitarian, developmental and security-related challenges," he said while speaking at the OIC Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee on Accountability for Human Rights Violations against the Rohingyas.

Bangladesh has shown "extraordinary compassion and responsibility" by sheltering over 1.3 million forcibly displaced Rohingyas despite experiencing a snowballing of the crises.

Since November 2023, over 118,000 more Rohingyas have arrived due to renewed violence and instability.

A "high-level conference on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar" will be organised on September 30, 2025 in New York on the sidelines of UNGA.

"We expect high-level participation from the OIC countries," the adviser said.

The US and other foreign donor cutbacks in humanitarian aid have worsened the already existing education crisis for 437,000 school-age children in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said today.

On June 3, 2025, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) suspended thousands of "learning centres" run by nongovernmental organisations in the refugee camps, for lack of funding.

The only education currently in the Bangladesh refugee camps is at schools established by the Rohingya community without outside support or official recognition.

Bangladesh's interim government should urgently lift restrictions on education for Rohingya refugees, such as a lack of accreditation, and donors should support community-led schools.

The government should also permit Rohingya children to enrol in schools outside the camps.

"The US and other donor governments are abandoning education for Rohingya children after the previous Bangladesh government long blocked it," said Bill Van Esveld, associate children's rights director at Human Rights Watch.