The Humane Yet Ambivalent Attitude Towards Persecuted People: A Potential Threat to Stability?

Abstract

Since August 2017, Bangladesh has sheltered nearly a million persecuted Rohingyas who had to flee for their life. Bangladesh’s humane gesture has rightly received accolades from many in the world. However, despite sheltering the Rohingyas and helping them with the modest means at its disposal, the government’s cautious attitude towards providing the Rohingya with an opportunity to live a dignified life has been somewhat stunted. Such attitude of the government is also manifest in not having any formal national law or policy on dealing with refugees or stateless people. With its huge population and a modestly developing economy, the government’s apprehension towards any greater integration or even uninhibited interaction between the Rohingya and the rest of the population is understandable. This apprehension is manifest, inter alia, in the imposition of a ban on registering marriages between Rohingya and Bangladeshis. Many of the Rohingyas, particularly the young ones with very limited scope for formal education and training, are not only passing a hopeless life but may also fall prey to the allure of criminal gangs. This paper would demonstrate how such an absence of law and policy is helping neither the Rohingyas living in the camps nor the government of Bangladesh.