by Fumiko Yamada 23 June 2023
Recently, June 20th, World Refugee Day was celebrated worldwide. As Bangladesh has not yet signed the 1951 ‘Refugee Convention’, there is no merit in not officially celebrating the ‘World Refugee Day’. Rather, the benefit of Bangladesh lies in the efforts to find a solution to the Rohingya problem by using the opportunity to celebrate this day. There is no greatness in abstraction; The rice obtained in the attempted solution through annexation will eventually go to Bangladesh – that is certain.
There are many countries which have not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention. Despite that, they observe ‘World Refugee Day’ as a member state of the United Nations. It needs to be observed to stand by the people living inhuman life as refugees in other countries and to give them strength and courage. Proper observance of ‘World Refugee Day’ is very important and effective to preserve and improve their quality of life. Because, by celebrating the World Refugee Day, this day is used as a global platform to support the rights, needs, needs and dreams of people living as refugees in different countries of the world. This year is no different.
Every year World Refugee Day has a theme. This year’s theme in Bangla is ‘House of hope even in the homeless: where the world’s refugees are always included’. The main point of this thesis is that the inclusion of refugees should be taken into the policy framework of the host state. It is the power of inclusion that can bring real and long-term solutions to the refugee problem. According to the UN statement, the refugees who took refuge in the country of refuge with the illusion of life, they considered that country safe. Therefore, it is called for attention and focus on how to include them in the host country. If it is possible to return safely, then the refugees return to their country and contribute to economic development is also included in the tail of the statement.
This is the problem of the United Nations – why people leave their own countries and seek refuge in other countries is not brought to the center of the discussion. Rather, their focus is on how to integrate refugees into countries that shelter refugees on humanitarian grounds. In view of the situation, it seems that the country has made a big mistake by providing shelter for the sake of humanity. The fault here is not the refugees. The fault lies with those countries, which threaten the lives of the people of their own country and force them to flee to other countries. The international community, including the United Nations, must take additional responsibility. By not doing so, they exert unnecessary pressure on the host country in the name of human rights protection. Due to these factors and disease-causing mosquitoes, the global refugee problem is increasing.
The growing number of refugees is a major problem in the world today. Our experience in the recent past includes the Syrian refugee problem, the Venezuelan refugee problem, the Rohingya refugee problem, the Afghan refugee problem, the Sudanese refugee problem, the Uyghur and Ukrainian refugee problems. After the Second World War, various initiatives and many laws have been made in the global environment to reduce the number of refugees in the world. But has the problem been reduced? Rather, it has increased. Recently, the United Nations Refugee Agency published a report. According to which the number of forcibly displaced people in the world is about 110 million. And the number of internally displaced people in their own country is about 6 crore 25 lakh. According to the information given on the website of the United Nations Refugee Agency, the number of refugees in the world is about 350 million. The number of asylum seekers from different countries is about 5.4 million. The number of stateless people is about 10 million. Looking at these statistics, it can be easily assumed that the number of displaced people is increasing at a geometric rate. Who is responsible for this increasing trend in numbers? Capitalist, hegemonic, authoritarian and imperialist states, including the United Nations, must respond to this.
The people of Bangladesh are also victims of the Rohingya refugee problem. Therefore, a detailed discussion on the Rohingya problem is also necessary and it has become necessary to actively think about what should be done immediately to solve it. Bangladesh currently has over 12 million Rohingya refugees living in 34 temporary refugee camps in Ukhia and Teknaf. Even though the repatriation process has been going on for almost six years, not a single Rohingya has been officially sent back to Myanmar. This is due to Myanmar’s non-cooperation, reluctance, lack of adequate preparation and lack of sincerity. Apart from that, how will the security of their lives be given even if the finger of accusation is pointed at the Rohingyas at a wholesale rate as ‘Rohingyas do not want to go back’; No credible promises have been made by anyone about the return of the villagers left behind in Rakhine and the guarantee of citizenship. The international community is silent here. The UN is not involved in the repatriation process in any way. Instead, the UN refugee agency has been issuing statements at regular intervals to discourage repatriation. In such a situation, Bangladesh can use the ‘World Refugee Day’ to show the world what kind of problems it is facing due to sheltering more than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees with appropriate research data. An exchange of views can be arranged with officials from various international embassies residing in Bangladesh, where possible and effective processes and procedures for the Rohingya solution will be discussed.
International cooperation in running Rohingya refugee camps is decreasing. As a result, the tax money of the people of this country has to be spent there. Bangladesh has made a mistake by showing humanity? Six years have already passed. But the international community is not playing any effective role in solving the Rohingya problem – that too needs to be made clear to everyone. Why should Bangladesh alone bear the ‘burden’ of 1.2 million refugees – the question must be answered by the international community.