Rohingya refugee problem can not be solved without solving the internal political problem in Burma.
The Neeti Gobeshona Kendra [Policy Research Centre], a research and advocacy organization working on human rights organized the seminar on ‘the Recent Political Situation in Burma and Rohingya Issue’ at Chittagong District Council Auditorium on Monday, the 19 May 2008.
Dhaka needs to hold constructive talks with Yangon to find a durable solution to the issue of Rohingya refugees who have come to Bangladesh from Burma. The seminar was told on Monday. Thousands of Burmese Rohingya had been living in Bangladesh as refugees due to political crisis in Burma, said the discussants at the meeting in Chittagong. They also called for mounting diplomatic pressure from the international community on the rulers of the pariah state to come to the negotiation table for resolution to the refugee crisis.
‘Only a few thousand Rohingyas are living in refugee camps while a good number of them are living outside the camps affecting the local environment and destroying balance of labour market of Chittagong,’ said Mahbubul Haque, Ripon director of the Neeti Gobeshona kendro.
Professor Monirul Hasan said, the recent referendum in Burma will make the solution of their political problem more difficult. It will cause the refugee issue to remain unresolved.
Presided over by Nazim Uddin Shamol, general secretary of the Chittagong Union of Journalists, the seminar was also addressed by SM Munirul Hasan, teacher of Chittagong University, Aminur Rasul Babul, Coordinator of the Coalition for Good Governance, Dr. Mohammad Yunus, transport association leader Ashraf Khan and Mohammad Aiyaz.
Abdus Salam
Research Fellow
The Neeti Gobeshona Kendra [Policy Research Centre]
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