Bangladesh’s Rohingya Strategy: Hypocrisy and Hidden Agendas
Bangladesh Repeats Its Flawed Rohingya Policies
Bangladesh’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain recently effectively labeled the Rohingya as a “ticking time bomb,” echoing the dehumanising rhetoric often used by Bangladesh’s defense and political establishments to insinuate that the Rohingya are poised to become jihadis. Hossain’s statement, “Desperate people do desperate things,” not only justifies the continued confinement and denial of basic rights but also perpetuates a narrative that exacerbates the crisis instead of resolving it.
In my latest Op-Ed for DVB English, I explore how this fear-mongering narrative coexists with the confinement, denial of basic rights, and unrealistic repatriation promises that exacerbate rather than resolve the crisis.
The rise of the Arakan Army further complicates the situation. In this context, Bangladesh’s push for a swift return is driven more by political posturing than genuine humanitarian concern. These policies not only marginalise the Rohingya but also threaten regional peace and stability.
I will soon be publishing an essay that examines the Rohingya crisis through the lens of class and the framework of surplus populations, drawing on Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of "wasted lives." The essay will explore how genocide in Myanmar served as a violent mechanism of dispossession, rendering the Rohingya stateless and displaced, and how their subsequent treatment in Bangladesh mirrors global systems of control, exclusion and exploitation.
No Man’s Land
Yesterday marked two years since the tragic attack on Tombru No Man’s Land. We remember the 4,500 Rohingya refugees who were violently displaced, caught in the crossfire, and left vulnerable. Responsibility lies with the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation, the Arakan Rohinyga Salvation Army, and the border forces of both Bangladesh and Myanmar.
A Rohingya youth named Habeef, a former resident of No Man’s Land and someone I’ve known since 2017, wrote this poem and shared it with me.
18th, A Nightmare!
Unlike other 18ths,
You are a day filled in tears and fears.|
You turned us into the homeless,
A loss no time can replace.
You stimulated suffering on the elderly and innocent children.
Made the innocent suffer again.
Left them to hunger and thirst,
How can you satisfy the stomachs of the innocent and blameless children?
Even the pets cry for their masters,
What wrong did the insects and cockroaches do?
You burned them alive,
How will you ever appease their silent drop of tears.
You made our country friendless and isolated.
While, we once stood by her side.
Now, you’ve left her alone,
Yet, she still calls out to us.
You made schools and masjids to rubble,
Deprived us of the breeze of our motherland.
You tortured countless poor souls,
Dried the tears of the innocent.
The lands of Naikhanchari once bloomed,
soaked in the tears of the innocent.
Their voices still echo through the winds,
A haunting memory of your merciless history.
Mohammed Habeeb
Nice