Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation agreement in November last year, but there has been considerable delay in the repatriation of refugees.
Sheikh Hasina interacting with Indian journalists in Dhaka. Credit: Devirupa Mitra
Dhaka: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she expects India to “put pressure” on Myanmar to ensure the quick repatriation of Rohingya refugees, and their safety once they go back.
“We want India to put pressure on Myanmar so that they can take back the refugees quickly,” the Bangladeshi premier told a group of visiting Indian journalists during an interaction at her official residence, Gana Bhawan, on Tuesday evening.
As per UN figures, 688,000 refugees have crossed over from Myanmar since August 25, 2017, following a security crackdown by the Myanmarese army triggered by an attack by a Rohingya militant group.
While visiting Myanmar in the first week of September 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had blamed “extremist violence” for the loss of lives. The joint statement signed by the two countries only acknowledged that security personnel had been killed.
With over 300,000 refugees already in Cox’s Bazaar, there had been rising resentment in Dhaka that India, as the largest regional power and ostensibly friendly to the Hasina government, was not talking about the humanitarian crisis.
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As the Hasina government faced a potential political fallout, India was forced to modify its public position, not only changing its statements to make them more balanced, but also abstaining during UN resolutions on Myanmar.
India has traditionally taken the side of the Myanmar government and largely voted against single-country resolutions. In line with the Myanmar government, India has never used the term ‘Rohingya’ in its public diplomatic utterances.
Speaking on Tuesday, Hasina said there were serious concerns about the refugees with the monsoon season ahead. “There are so many young children and new babies are being born every day,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina interacting with Indian journalists in Dhaka. Credit: Special arrangement
Describing the refugee exodus as a “global concern”, she pointed out that the Bangladesh government was making sure that the young among the Rohingya were not getting radicalised.
“When a person is frustrated, doesn’t have work, it is very natural for them to become misdirected,” she said, adding that Bangladeshi authorities are keeping an eye on any such activities.
“In that context, we want India to put pressure… and take it up on international fora… then perhaps Myanmar will take them back,” she said.
The Bangladeshi prime minister said that “from the beginning”, her government had been meticulously tracking the entry of all refugees. “When they started to arrive, we photographed them, made lists and gave them IDs. We did this so that Myanmar can’t say that these people are not their citizens,” she said.
Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation agreement in November last year, but there has been considerable delay in the repatriation of refugees. As per the pact on physical arrangements for the repatriation, the return of refugees is supposed to be completed within two years.
Last week, Bangladesh handed over a list of 8,032 Rohingya for repatriation to Myanmar for verification.
Hasina also said that Bangladesh wanted to forge a new diplomatic initiative among the five countries bordering Myanmar. “Thailand did not give them refuge, we did. India also didn’t. We did. This is a fact.”
She not only wants a more common approach so that there is a consensus on humanitarian matters, but also a joint effort to put adequate pressure on Myanmar. “I have told my foreign minister to speak to all the neighbouring countries with borders on Myanmar – China, India, Thailand and Laos… to have a dialogue,” said Sheikh Hasina.
She is especially concerned that that when the refugees go back, their safety must be guaranteed. “Another issue is when they go back, they should not be persecuted. Their safety and security has to be ensured”.
India, said Hasina, could also play a role here in keeping them safe inside Myanmar.
After New Delhi changed its initial stance on the Rohingya exodus, India initiated ‘Operation Insaniyat’ to send relief items to the refugee camps. Then Indian foreign secretary S. Jaishankar also signed an agreement with Myanmar for India to build pre-fabricated houses for the returnees in Rakhine State.
On February 19, Bangladesh’s premier bourse gave the final nod to a Chinese bid to pick up a stake in the Dhaka Stock Exchange, another sign of China’s economic and strategic footprint in Bangladesh.
During President Xi Jinping’s 2016 visit, Dhaka became part of China’s Belt and Road initiative, while Beijing pledged $25 billion in investments. The Bangladesh military procures 80% of its equipment from China, including the supply of two Chinese submarines.
However, Hasina asserted that India needn’t be anxious. “I think that on Chinese cooperation, you do not need to worry for it,” she told Indian journalists on Tuesday.
The Bangladeshi premier said that with the economy being a priority, foreign investment were welcome. “China, Japan, even Middle East countries, Saudi Arabia, everybody is coming here. We want more investment, more cooperation”.
She also asserted that perhaps India also needs to improve relations with “other neighbours”.
“India is our next-door neighbour. So you shouldn’t worry about it (Bangladesh’s relationship with China). Rather, I would suggest that you should have a good relationship with your other neighbours. Not just Bangladesh, as well as other neighbours. Then we can develop and showcase this region to the world, that we can work together,” said the Bangladesh prime minister.
With Hasina having promoted sub-regional cooperation, she noted that the BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal) initiative had floundered initially. Bangladesh had been really eager to operationalise the BBIN motor vehicle agreement, but Bhutan opted out of the pact for now over environmental concerns.
She noted that Bangladesh has proposed that foreign cars and trucks should only travel inside Bhutan to a designated entry-exit point. This could provide much-needed reassurance to Thimpu that the small Himalayan nation will not be swamped by joining the BBIN motor vehicle agreement, she indicated.
With elections looming later this year, Hasina looked back at nine years of India-Bangladesh relations and counted the Land Boundary agreement as a major achievement. “If there is any problem, we can bilaterally solve it and we have done it.”
She also reiterated that Bangladesh “will not allow any terrorist activities or insurgent activities targeting our neighbouring country”.
However, Hasina added that there was just one pending matter. “Bas ektu dukkho ache, ki didimoni teesta pathalen na (Only one small regret is left – that Didimoni (West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee) did not agree to Teesta water sharing)”.
On her discussions with the West Bengal chief minister, Hasina asserted, “When I spoke to her, she never said that she won’t give (Teesta) water to Bangladesh. She said that she will give.”
With India having a federal system, the Bangladesh prime minister said that it was not possible to ignore the wishes of West Bengal. Banerjee remains firm on her stance that Teesta the water sharing pact could not finalised as there is not enough water in the river.
Earlier this month, a special court convicted the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia for embezzling over $1 billion in foreign donations for an orphanage trust and sentenced her to five years imprisonment. “Our judiciary is independent. We had nothing to do with it. If we had, the trial would not have taken ten years,” Hasina said.
On whether BNP will take part in the parliamentary elections, she said that the opposition was split. “There is a difference of opinion within the party. Some people do not want to part, but majority of the support do want to take part in the elections,” said the Bangladesh prime minister.
