Editorial
Compassion for the dispossessed
International community must step forward
Accepting foreign refugees fleeing persecution in a neighbouring country is always done on humanitarian grounds. Today, we stand at a moral crossroads when we refuse entry to Rohingyas who are fleeing, in their hundreds, to escape the communal violence that has been raging for nearly a week.
Yet, for the international community to ask a cash-strapped country like Bangladesh to simply open the doors to a trickle that could soon turn into a sea of humanity flooding over the border is simply unrealistic. These people need to be housed and fed in proper camps that need to be built along the border areas, so that they may be easily repatriated to their country of origin once the situation has stabilised. Setting up of such facilities and their maintenance with proper administration requires substantial financial commitment and it is at this juncture that the international community needs to step up and share the burden through firm commitment instead of merely issuing statements of what Bangladesh should do.
It is imperative that bilateral relations between our two countries, which have always been amicable, remain so. Equally important it is to convey to Myanmar authorities that it is their constitutional duty to protect all its citizens regardless of creed or ethnicity. Any such flare-up between communities leading to exodus of members of a community over the border into Bangladesh is not only undesirable, but accepting the responsibility of taking care of thousands of refugees over the long-term on Bangladeshi territory is simply unacceptable. But that is precisely what Bangladesh has done over the successive waves of Rohingyas who have arrived to flee from persecution since 1978. Despite our troubles, Bangladesh cannot in good conscience turn its back on helpless people, but as stated before, Bangladesh can under no circumstances be expected to shoulder the financial burden of this humanitarian disaster alone. The UNHCR and the greater international community as a whole must come forward with more than words so that Bangladesh may do the right thing.
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