Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam on Sunday said the Rohingya crisis is a complex regional and cross-border issue that cannot be resolved by Bangladesh alone.
He made the remarks while speaking at a national seminar titled “From Vulnerability to Resilience: Assessing Security Risks and the Role of Livelihoods in Rohingya Camps”, held at a city hotel. The seminar presented the findings of a research project conducted jointly by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and Young Power in Social Action.
“The Rohingya crisis involves multiple actors and factors,” the foreign secretary said. “Their insecurity in the camps neither depends solely on Bangladesh nor can it be resolved by Bangladesh alone.”
He emphasised that the crisis originated in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and that any durable solution must ultimately be found there.
“Finding a sustainable resolution to this protracted crisis will remain one of Bangladesh’s top diplomatic priorities,” he added.
Humanitarian responsibility
Siam said the Rohingya population had faced systematic persecution and genocidal violence in Myanmar, forcing them to flee their ancestral homes and seek refuge in Bangladesh.
Despite its own resource constraints, Bangladesh has provided shelter to the displaced population purely on humanitarian grounds, he said.
“At present, around 1.2 million Rohingyas are temporarily sheltered in camps in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char,” he said.
Bangladesh continues to share its limited resources with the refugees — resources that could otherwise be used for its own citizens, the foreign secretary noted.
“In that sense, Bangladesh remains the single largest contributor to sustaining the lives of the Rohingya population,” he said.
Need for broader perspective
Speaking at the seminar, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman said the root causes of the crisis lie inside Myanmar, while Bangladesh is dealing with its consequences.
“The causes of the crisis are on the other side of the border, but the impacts are being managed here,” he said.
Rahman also criticised the focus of some research efforts for concentrating almost exclusively on the situation within the refugee camps while paying limited attention to the conditions in Myanmar that forced the Rohingyas to flee.
He noted that while the international community frequently discusses “structural exclusion” within the camps, there is comparatively little research on how to ensure “structural inclusion” for Rohingyas in Rakhine State once they return.
Rahman also highlighted a unique policy challenge related to education in the camps. Bangladesh allows the Myanmar curriculum to be taught to Rohingya children in order to facilitate their eventual repatriation, but it cannot issue official certification because the curriculum falls under Myanmar’s authority.
“This creates a sovereignty dilemma,” he said. “Bangladesh is facilitating education for future reintegration in Myanmar, but it cannot formally certify those studies.”
He stressed that the government must carefully balance its humanitarian responsibilities with its duty to protect national interests and ensure the well-being of its citizens.
“The situation should be analysed through a holistic policy framework rather than being viewed merely as a temporary settlement issue,” he added.
Research on camp dynamics
The seminar also presented preliminary findings from a research project initiated by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation between April 2025 and March 2026.
As part of the study, researchers interviewed 2,072 Rohingya refugees living in the camps.
The research focuses on several key issues affecting the refugee population, including structural exclusion, psychological stress, social cohesion, livelihood opportunities and potential security risks.
Organisers said the seminar was aimed at bringing together policymakers, researchers and practitioners to discuss the findings and explore ways to strengthen resilience among the Rohingya population while addressing broader security and development concerns.
