Bangladesh won't let in any more Rohingya, they are a burden on us: Minister

Bangladesh declared on Wednesday that it will no longer accept the large number of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar into its borders, citing security concerns. Nearly a million Muslim Rohingya people reside in cramped camps made of bamboo and plastic in Bangladesh’s border province of Cox’s Bazar; the majority of them escaped a military crackdown in 2017. The Rohingya people have been persecuted for decades in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar. Since the Rohingya are considered foreign intruders by Myanmar’s military government and have been denied citizenship, Bangladesh has little chance of reuniting with them across the border in Rakhine, the world’s largest refugee population. Since the Rohingya are considered foreign intruders by Myanmar’s military government and have been denied citizenship, Bangladesh has little chance of reuniting with them across the border in Rakhine, the world’s largest refugee population. “We will not allow any more Rohingya to enter the country… they have already become a burden for us,” Obaidul Quader, the minister for road transport and bridges, told reporters on Wednesday. “International aid has been significantly reduced. How long can we support them?” As fighting between Myanmar’s rebel forces and its junta regime intensifies, several hundred more people—mostly from the Chakma ethnic group and some Rohingya—have gathered on the Myanmar border to enter Bangladesh, according to Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner based in Cox’s Bazar. Rahman claimed that the Rohingya were “overburdened” in Bangladesh. “It has been seven years and we have not been able to repatriate them,” he said. “Keeping Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh has become a threat to our security, our law and order. It is creating a vulnerable situation for cross-border crime.” According to Shariful Islam, a spokesman for Bangladesh’s Border Guard, at least 327 border troops and police from Myanmar—some of whom had been shot—had fled to Bangladesh during the last several days due to the rising level of violence. According to Minister Quader, Dhaka is in negotiations with China and India to make sure that Bangladesh is unaffected by the domestic strife in neighboring Myanmar. In protest of the rising border violence that has killed two people, including a Rohingya, on the Bangladeshi side, the nation summoned Myanmar’s ambassador on Tuesday. “The aid agencies that were providing financial support previously are also pulling back and it is creating a lot of economic stress for Bangladesh,” Rahman said. Rahman urged humanitarian groups such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to offer sustenance and medical aid to individuals ensnared in the violence in Myanmar as a result of the continuous fighting. “Over the years, Bangladesh has generously provided sanctuary to those fleeing violence,” UNHCR said in a statement. “UNHCR is in constant contact with the Bangladesh authorities and continues to advocate for civilians fleeing violence to have access to safety.” (With agency inputs)