As reported in the media, Bangladesh at the request of the Saudi Arabia government has agreed to renew the passports of 69,000 Rohingya community members living in Saudi Arabia.
These Rohingyas had moved to Saudi Arabia many years ago with Bangladeshi passports. During his recent visit to Dhaka, deputy interior minister of Saudi Arabia Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al-Dawood discussed the matter with home minister Asaduzzaman Khan. Earlier, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) had also been signed between the two countries.
Following his meeting, the home minister said that Saudi Arabia has sought to know about the progress of the passport renewal efforts for the Rohingyas who went to the country with Bangladeshi passports.
Saudi Arabia has promised that they would not send the Rohingya expatriates back to Bangladesh even after their passports have been renewed. Their passports need to be renewed for them to be able to stay in Saudi Arabia, he had added.
Notably, Rohingya migrants who fled from Myanmar towards the end of 70s moved to Saudi Arabia from Bangladesh and Pakistan. While the Pakistan government sent them with travel documents, the Bangladesh government had directly given them passports.
That’s why the country has been pressurising Bangladesh to renew the passports. The Bangladesh government has also agreed to renew the passports of the Rohingyas considering the interest of the Bangladeshi expatriates living in Saudi Arabia.
But the number of Rohingya migrants moving to Saudi Arabia from Bangladesh is not 69,000. It’s a lot higher than that. In that case, what’s the guarantee here that they would not ask to renew the passports of the remaining Rohingya members?
Often, there is news in the media about Rohingya members getting their passports and national identity cards done in the country. Even some of them have been caught at the airport while getting out of this country.
In this situation, we have to also consider the fact if renewing the passports of Rohingya expatriates in Saudi Arabia turns out to be a major problem for us.
There are about 2.8 million (28 lakh) Bangladeshi labourers living in the country. The government can take any step for their safety and welfare. However, we must also be careful so that the Rohingyas holding Bangladeshi passports cannot return to the country.
Bangladesh is now faced with a serious problem concerning the Rohingya migrants’ issue. Right now there are more than a million (10 lakh0 Rohingyas living in Bangladesh, major chunk of whom arrived in 2017.
Sending Rohingyas to Saudi Arabia with Bangladeshi passports only proves the fact that past mistakes can still haunt you. Pakistan has shown more intelligence in this matter.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan only talked about the Rohingya expatriates who moved there between 1976 and 1979. But, a lot of other Rohingyas have also gone to Saudi Arabia via Bangladesh after that.
The important question here is that how did these Rohingyas get their hands on Bangladeshi passports? While the actual citizens of the country fall victim to different types of harassments in getting their passports done, the Rohingyas get their passports just like that. The mystery behind it needs to be unearthed as well.
Right when the government is about to renew 69,000 passports to ensure that the Rohingya expatriates living in Saudi Arabia can continue living in that country, more than a million (10 lakh) Rohingyas are residing in Bangladesh. There are no effective initiatives to repatriate these Rohingya migrants.
There came no positive message from the discussion with US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia, Donald Lu either. He said that the situation in Myanmar is not yet favourable for Rohingya repatriation. Then does Bangladesh alone have to bear the responsibility of those millions of Rohingyas?
It must be kept in mind that these Rohingya migrants are not only creating a severe pressure on our public life, environment and economy but are also spreading narcotics.