Bangladesh forms Rohingya repatriation strategy committee
New body will draft national plan within 90 days as more than one million Rohingya refugees remain in Bangladesh with no large-scale return in sight
DHAKA, Bangladesh (MNTV) — Bangladesh has established a high-level national committee to develop a comprehensive strategy for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, as the country seeks to revive efforts to return more than one million displaced people to Myanmar despite persistent security concerns across the border.
The government announced the formation of an 11-member National Strategy Formulation Committee on Rohingya Affairs, which will be responsible for preparing a coordinated national roadmap to support what it described as the safe, swift and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees.
The committee will be chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and brings together senior officials overseeing foreign affairs, home affairs, finance, planning and defense, alongside the chiefs of Bangladesh’s key security agencies, including the police, Border Guard Bangladesh, National Security Intelligence and the Coast Guard.
According to the government, the Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division will serve as chief coordinator, while the director general of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence will act as member-secretary.
A separate board operating under the committee will draft the national strategy within 90 days. The document is expected to define the responsibilities of ministries and public agencies involved in repatriation, improve coordination among government institutions and establish a long-term framework for managing the return process.
The committee will also identify priority issues affecting repatriation, monitor implementation of the strategy and coordinate the work of agencies responsible for refugee affairs.
Bangladesh hosts more than 1.1 million Rohingya refugees, most of whom fled successive waves of violence and persecution in neighboring Myanmar, including a military crackdown in 2017 that the United Nations has described as bearing the hallmarks of genocide.
Despite several bilateral initiatives between Bangladesh and Myanmar, no large-scale voluntary repatriation has taken place.
The United Nations has repeatedly maintained that conditions in Myanmar’s Rakhine State remain unsafe for returns, citing ongoing armed conflict, widespread insecurity and the continued denial of citizenship and fundamental rights to the Rohingya community.
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