UNB News:
The Rohingya tragedy is not an isolated episode – it is part of a broader pattern of injustice against Muslim populations, said the Adviser. Photo: UNB
Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain, now in Istanbul, on sought intensified humanitarian contributions for Rohingyas, stressing that the pressure on Bangladesh’s economy, environment and local communities is unsustainable.
“We are facing mounting humanitarian, developmental and security-related challenges,” he said while speaking at the OIC Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee on Accountability for Human Rights Violations against the Rohingyas.
Bangladesh has shown “extraordinary compassion and responsibility” by sheltering over 1.3 million forcibly displaced Rohingyas despite experiencing a snowballing of the crises.
Since November 2023, over 118,000 more Rohingyas have arrived due to renewed violence and instability.
A “high-level conference on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar” will be organised on 30 September 2025 in New York on the sidelines of UNGA.
“We expect high-level participations from the OIC countries,” Adviser Hossain said.
He said OIC may engage the member states to provide required financial support to run case at ICJ by the Gambia.
Now the Gambia will need full solidarity, support and cooperation.
“I would like to request our brothers to extend more financial support to the OIC fund for this case,” Hossain said, adding that ensuring justice will boost confidence of the Rohingyas to return to Myanmar.
For the Rohingya community, he said, Bangladesh has done its part – perhaps more than its share.
“We now look to the OIC and the international community to uphold their moral and legal responsibilities. Our call today is not just for charity, but also for justice, solidarity, and shared accountability.
Let us reaffirm, as one Ummah, that the Rohingyas will not be forgotten,” said the Adviser.
Recently, the situation in Rakhine has undergone dramatic changes. The Arakan Army now controls the 271-km Bangladesh-Myanmar Border and 14 of Rakhine’s 17 townships.
As of May 2025, the number of reported internally displacement persons in Rakhine is around 587,000 (Five hundred and Eighty-Seven Thousand).
“Due to the ongoing conflict, another 1,18,000 Myanmar nationals have fled to Bangladesh recently. All these influxes are further straining Bangladesh’s limited resources,” Hossain said.
The world is now going through multiple conflict situations.
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“The humanitarian needs are rising dramatically in different corners. The assistance for Rohingyas staying in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char has also been affected due to inadequate funding,” he said.
There is an alarming downward trend of humanitarian support for Rohingyas in Bangladesh.
Only 68% of the UN estimated required fund for 2024 has been received last year. The 2025-26 JRP was launched with a pledged amount of USD 934.5 million for 1.48 million people.
Due to fund shortage Unicef has closed learning facilities since 3rd of June.
Moreover, WFP has cut the food ration twice. However, it will decline further if funds are not available by September.
“We appreciate the humanitarian support provided by the OIC member States,” said Adviser Hossain.
At this juncture of a critical time, he said they are witnessing with great sorrow the increasing victimization of Muslims across the world.
The Rohingya tragedy is not an isolated episode – it is part of a broader pattern of injustice against Muslim populations, said the Adviser.
He called upon the OIC to assume a more assertive and coordinated role.
This includes sustaining international legal action, enhancing advocacy, mobilizing humanitarian resources, and working with global actors to facilitate durable repatriation of the Rohingyas with rights, protection, and dignity, Hossain said.
“Malaysia is now the chair of Asean,” he said, adding that OIC may engage this platform to urge Asean to put pressure on Myanmar to stop its atrocities against the Rohingyas and ensure a conducive environment for the repatriation from Bangladesh.
The systematic discrimination and violence on the Rohingya community, native to Myanmar’s Rakhine State, reached its peak in 2017 forced them to flee across the border into Bangladesh, in what the United Nations rightly called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”
