The solution to the Rohingya crisis lies in Myanmar and among the three classical solutions, only the repatriation remains a sustainable solution.
Repatriation of the Rohingya must take place today or tomorrow, although it appears difficult now.
Abu Saleh Mohammed Obaidullah, Additional Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (Joint Secretary), Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC), Cox’s Bazar, made the comments at the inaugural session at the international conference titled “Sustainable Solutions to the Rohingya Crisis: Policies and Practices” was held at the SIMEC Institute of Technology, Uttara, Dhaka.
SIMEC Research Centre, Singapore, and SIMEC Institute of Technology, Bangladesh, jointly organised the conference.
The inaugural session was chaired by Dr Ratan Kumar Roy, Director, SIMEC Research Centre, Singapore. Dr Sariful Islam, Research Coordinator, SIMEC Institute of Technology, delivered the opening remarks of the conference.
Obaidullah also notes that “Bangladesh is not in a position to integrate the Rohingya, locally, and the resettlement is not viable as a small number of Rohingya get repatriated. The resettlement number of the Rohingya stands now at just 5500. The change in the international political landscape, with the rise of anti-migrant and refugee sentiment, makes the resettlement option for the Rohingya bleak.”
Rohingya representatives, joined virtually from the camps, expressed their strong sentiment to go back to their homeland, Arakan of Myanmar. The Rohingya speakers highlighted the importance of getting recognition for their identity and citizenship rights back in Myanmar.
Astrid Castelein, Assistant Representative for Protection, UNHCR Bangladesh, said that digital intervention, i.e., digital data registration, is not only critical for providing humanitarian assistance to refugees but also for a sustainable solution to the refugee crisis.
The UNHCR in Bangladesh began biometric registration for Rohingya refugees in 2018, following a joint Memorandum of Understanding. Castelein has made this comment in the plenary session on Digital Intervention for Sustainable Solutions: Biometrics, Data Protection and Legal Concerns for Rohingyas in Bangladesh.
The conference was curated with an inaugural session, two plenary sessions, seven parallel thematic sessions, a special session on academic publishing, and a valedictory session.
The conference concluded with a valedictory address by Dr Imtiaz Ahmed, who highlighted the importance of regional cooperation, international responsibility-sharing, and justice-oriented approaches to inspire confidence in collective efforts.
Dr Imtiaz has stressed the need to view the Rohingya crisis comprehensively. Recognising the complex actors involved, including states, military forces of Myanmar, intergovernmental organisations, business communities, and civil society, is essential for fostering respect and a shared sense of responsibility.
Engr. Sardar Md. Shaheen, Founder Chairman of the SIMEC Foundation, which sponsored the conference, was the chief guest at the closing session. He pointed out that Bangladeshi academicians, scholars and institutes should continuously produce scholarship as well as make policy deliberations to have a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis, which has put extreme stress in many ways on Bangladesh.
The conference has brought together scholars, policymakers, humanitarian practitioners, Rohingya representatives, media professionals, and government officials from Bangladesh, United States, Singapore, Germany and India to critically examine long-term responses to the Rohingya crisis.
Discussions throughout the conference underscored the limitations of short-term humanitarian approaches and emphasised the urgent need for sustainable, rights-based, and politically informed solutions.