The Rohingya concern

The conditions of a refugee make him vulnerable to all sorts of temptations, money being one of the tantalising motivations. Enticement of money has caused many to be sucked into the vortex of the radical extremist activities of the fundamentalist groups in the region; and the refugee camps have been a fertile recruitment ground for the extremists. Even though we do not have to foot the bill for upkeep of these refugees, the possible adverse impact on our security of an uncontrolled expatriate refugee camp cannot be made light of.

To add to the problem there are officially 6000 unregistered refugees, the unofficial figure may be triple that count, who are living on roadside slums, many of whom have merged with the local populace and the milieu.

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Over the last several years this paper has been highlighting the potential of the Rohingya refugees to become a serious security hazard for Bangladesh, without being oblivious of the human dimension of the question. We exposed the way their frailties were exploited by some very dubious NGOs, both national and international. That Arab funds, and there was no dearth of sources of these, might have been used by the suspect NGOs to ideologically exploit the refugees, cannot be doubted.

While we had noticed with dismay the government's tendency to deny such linkages at that time, we are happy that the administration is now showing signs of comprehending some of the ground realities.

Much as we are sympathetic to the problem of the Rohingya refugees and the fate that might possibly await them on return, we cannot overlook the fact that several of them have become a grave peril to our safety.

The government must address the Rohingya repatriation issue with utmost promptitude, and, between itself and the government of Mayanmar ensure the return home of the Rohingyas.