The desperation in the voice of our foreign minister while briefing foreign diplomats in Dhaka on Thursday shows how serious Bangladesh is to settle the Rohingya repatriation issue once and for all. He presented before them the precarious situation that has evolved in the last two years since the first batch of Rohingyas arrived on the soil of Bangladesh. Yes, lot of water has flown down Karnafuli river since that day, but not a single refugee has gone back to Myanmar.
Disconcerting as it is, there seems to be no tangible solution in plain sight to the Rohingya crises. Rather, the horizon is becoming darker every day with clouds of deception and distrust growing ominously. The colossal problem, machinated by the Myanmar army, was aimed at throwing Bangladesh off balance when the country was investing its finance and energy for the development and welfare of the people. It is thereby conceivable that some foreign country has created this problem in cahoots with their local counterpart.
The enormity of the problem is a distracter and a huge economic burden on the country. It is a big burden on our environment as well. But what is becoming a potential threat for our future are the reports on Rohingya young men and women being recruited by some extremist groups. It is alleged that these people are being given training on how to use firearms, with the aim to use them to fulfill the agenda of the recruiting organisations in future. Reportedly, huge sums of money is coming from various sources for the purpose of waging anti-Bangladesh campaigns.
The recent news of Rohingyas organising a massive meeting on the instruction of some of their leaders made the citizens feel worried about the future. Some leaders like one Mohibullah was even seen in the office of US President Donald Trump speaking on behalf of the Rohingyas! The question arose that if he is a refugee in a foreign land how could he travel with a passport. Who has issued a passport in his name? There is a reason to believe that this man is playing mysterious game to thwart the peaceful repatriation.
Where is it all leading to and when will it all end? These are the pertinent questions that are being asked by the literati in the country. It is common sense that if we allow 1.2 million Rohingya refugees to continue to live on our land in camps, in substandard conditions, one day they are bound to break free and disappear amidst the 16 crore common people.
That would create a law and order situation that might prove to be extremely difficult for all the forces to control. And if the reports that Rohingyas are maintaining constant relationship with Pakistan and different regional militant groups in order to make Bangladesh unstable, we have to be doubly cautious and act without delay.
We must praise our law enforcing and intelligence agencies for handling the Rohingya issue quite diligently so far. We are sure they are capable of handling the situation. But we would like to ring the alarm bell after the Mohibullah case came up front. We must be proactive now so that the local and foreign enemies cannot strike first.