'Creative diplomacy' key for sustainable Rohingya repatriation: Experts

Highlights 

India-led tripartite talks should begin alongside China-led initiatives

Regional blocs such as ASEAN and BIMSTEC should pressurise Myanmar   

Diplomatic efforts should be extended to economic and military frontiers  

A multilateral holistic approach with a special focus on "creative diplomacy" is crucial to ensure sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Myanmar, foreign policy and security experts said at a roundtable Saturday.

"Myanmar military will not take back Rohingyas only on humanitarian grounds. If they find economic gains, they are more likely to respond to the repatriation process," Dhaka University international relations Prof Imtiaz Ahmed told the programme while explaining "creative diplomacy".

For example, Prof Imtiaz said Bangladesh should pursue Singapore, one of the top investors to Myanmar, to introduce investment conditions backing the repatriation process.          

At the programme organised by the Editors Guild Bangladesh at the Dhaka Gallery, the international relations prof commented that Dhaka could have initiated military-to-military talks with Naypyidaw alongside the diplomatic engagements during the Rohingya influx in 2017.

Now the Myanmar military wants Bangladesh to rope in a military conflict, he commented at the roundtable titled "Rohingya Crisis - Border Situation - Geopolitics".

However, security analyst Major General (Retired) Abdur Rashid disagreed with it, noting, "Although the Myanmar army is strong, internal conflicts have eroded its capability."   

Pointing out that Myanmar did not cause the Rohingya crisis alone, he said, "It is an output of the China-led Belt and Road Initiative and the US-led Indo-Pacific Strategy." 

Bangladesh is currently hosting more than 10 lakh Rohingyas who fled from Myanmar in 2017 as Myanmar launched a military crackdown on them. Since then, there have been several repatriation talks without any success on the ground. Recently, the neighbouring country escalated military actions against internal rebel groups prompting tensions at the Bangladesh-Myanmar frontier.         

At the programme, discussants stressed on engaging India and China to resolve the crisis.     

Abul Hasan Chowdhury, former state minister for foreign affairs, said influential international blocs should impose more sanctions on Myanmar and exclude the country from the global financial messaging network SWIFT.

"Besides, special economic zones of India and China can be established in the Bangladesh-Myanmar bordering areas pushing the country to refrain from escalating tensions," he suggested.  

His recommendations also include a special session in Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) on the Rohingya issue and persuading the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) nations to pressurise Myanmar.

Brigadier General (Retired) M Sakhawat Hossain said uncertainty over the repatriation might upset the Rohingyas and encourage them to join the revel armed forces.     

Among others, former ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmad, security expert Abdur Rob Khan, Dhaka University international relations Prof Delwar Hossain and former National Human Rights Commission chief Kazi Reazul Hoque spoke at the event. Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamal Dutta moderated it.