It is a privilege to present a topic of global significance today concerning refugees, their rehabilitation, and their repatriation. This work explores the profound challenges of displaced populations, with a specific focus on the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh—a crisis that has drawn intense global attention as world leaders seek vital solutions during this critical hour.
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh refers to the displaced people from Myanmar who currently live in Bangladesh. As of December 2017, an estimated 655,000 to 700,000 Rohingya individuals had fled to Bangladesh following August 25, 2017, to escape targeted persecution by Myanmar’s security forces. An additional 300,000 Rohingyas were already living in Bangladesh, having fled earlier waves of violence by the Myanmar government over the preceding three decades. By June 2018, the World Bank announced nearly half a billion dollars in grant-based support to help Bangladesh address the essential needs of these refugees, including health, education, water, sanitation, disaster risk management, and social protection.
On September 28, 2018, Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, addressed the 73rd United Nations General Assembly. She noted that the refugee population had reached 1.1 million in Bangladesh, and she reaffirmed her active, ongoing commitment to resolving the crisis.
The complexity and scale of the problems facing the United Nations in the post-Cold War era highlight the urgent need for cooperation both within and beyond the UN system. In no area is this challenge more evident than in post-conflict rehabilitation. This issue demands our immediate focus today, particularly regarding its implications for the safe and dignified repatriation of refugees.
Forty-three years ago, when the UNHCR was founded, the global refugee population totalled 1.2 million people living across a handful of countries.
