A new reality for Bangladesh.

[Samurai_assassin]

we are not advisors of hasina if you pay so much importance to her and her party dont bother talking to us

She is your elected leader we don't pay attetion to her however your leader keeps dragging Pakistan into every Bangladeshi problem! Why don't you advise your beloved PM to stop talking about Pakistan!

 

[EastBengalPro]

She is your elected leader

No She isnt! 150+ out of 300 seats have own without any vote in 2014. BNP made mistake by not participating the election hearing the words of US ambassador.

Why don't you advise your beloved PM to stop talking about Pakistan!

She will not coz its political stance for her.

 

[Samurai_assassin]

No She isnt! 150+ out of 300 seats have own without any vote in 2014. BNP made mistake by not participating the election hearing the words of US ambassador.



She will not coz its political stance for her.

You agree or disagre she represents the Bangladeshi nation. With her hostility towards Pakistan she is dragging the entire BD nation to pitch agaisnt Pak.

 

[Arefin007]

She is your elected leader we don't pay attetion to her however your leader keeps dragging Pakistan into every Bangladeshi problem! Why don't you advise your beloved PM to stop talking about Pakistan!

what part of 'i am not her advisor' do you not understand clown go get yourself admitted in broadmoor

 

[Advocate Pakistan]

I never knew that many Bangladeshis don't like Hasina as is evident by the posts of many members. I, being a Pakistani, previously held the view that she is a popular leader among the Bengali masses.

 

[Kandari-Hushiyaar]

I never knew that many Bangladeshis don't like Hasina as is evident by the posts of many members. I, being a Pakistani, previously held the view that she is a popular leader among the Bengali masses.

She isnot and yet she is.
She is a very competent leader who can turn her weakness into brute strength.
Few years earlier when Islamists ( Hefajat e Islam) rose against her on Punishing the atheist issue , we all thought her days were numbered. Now they are her biggest supporters. She basically disowned the Hindus and Secular Muslims just when she realized they are weaker than Islamists.
She was unpopular because she closed the border and kept the Rohingya Refugees out of Bangladesh. Now suddenly she took a 180 degree U turn , allowed the quickest refugee influx in recent history and is now called MOther of Humanity by many Bangladeshis.
Economy is on her side.
I think Her popularity is at top and her opponents are at the weakest phrase.
Even being not a fan of her, I want her to stay untill 2021. Because we need a strong leadership atm and their is no alternative.

 

[Banglar Bir]

12:00 AM, October 01, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:42 PM, October 01, 2017
UNSC FAILS TO CENSURE MYANMAR
Can Rohingyas return to their homeland?

With the current inflow of over 500,000 Rohingyas, the total number of Rohingya refugees presently living in Bangladesh is now nearly one million. PHOTO: STAR
Mahmood Hasan
On September 28, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres briefed members of the Security Council in an open session on the ongoing violence in Rakhine which had forced 500,000 Rohingyas to take refuge in Bangladesh. The meeting was held at the request of 7 members of the Security Council. No statement was issued by the President of the Council—currently held by Ethiopia.

At the briefing, Secretary General Guterres said that “the situation has spiralled into the world's fastest developing refugee emergency, a humanitarian and human rights nightmare…We have received bone-chilling accounts from those who fled.” Testimonies pointed to serious human rights violations, noted Guterres. “This is unacceptable and must end immediately,” demanded the Secretary General.

Myanmar's representative U Thaung Tun, echoing Aung San Suu Kyi, denied all allegations of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Bangladesh's Ambassador Masud Bin Momen reflected on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's plan, calling for the creation of safe zones inside Myanmar and repatriation of the displaced Rohingyas. US Ambassador Nikki Haley said, “We must consider action against Burmese security forces who are implicated in abuses and stoking hatred.” US, Britain and France, all permanent members, were joined by other members demanding immediate end to the ongoing violence and a strong UNSC response. Japan condemned the attacks on civilians. But Chinese deputy Ambassador Wu Haitao said that the situation in Rakhine was stabilising and that all parties should work constructively. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia warned that “excessive pressure” on Myanmar's government “could only aggravate the situation in the country and around it.” China and Russia, both permanent members, were against issuing any statement.

Bangladesh wanted a consensus leading to a strong statement from the UNSC calling upon the Myanmar authorities to stop the ethnic cleansing and create a situation that would facilitate the return of the Rohingyas from Bangladesh. With the current inflow of over 500,000 Rohingyas, the total number of Rohingya refugee presently living in Bangladesh is now nearly one million—an untenable economic burden on Bangladesh. Clearly, the permanent members were divided—a serious setback for Bangladesh.

The crux of the crisis lies in the Myanmar authorities' refusal to grant citizenship to the Rojhingyas and the systematic discrimination against them that has continued since the promulgation of the 1982 Citizenship Law. The narrative that follows is all too familiar for repetition.

The Annan report also mentioned the citizenship issue very cursorily. There are serious lacunae in the recommendations—it does not use the term “Rohingya” but “Muslims of Rakhine”; it does not call upon Myanmar to restore citizenship and basic rights of the Rohingyas, but only calls on the Myanmar government to quicken the verification process and revisit (not change) the 1982 Citizenship Law.

Suu Kyi in her speech to the Myanmar parliament on September 19 mentioned that all Rohingyas (she did not use the term) would be able to return after a process of verification. This is a clear trap; as the verification process would drag on for years, if not decades. Primarily because the majority of Rohingyas do not possess any document issued by the Myanmar authorities. It would be a herculean task for international organisations—IOM, OCHA, UNHCR, etc—to prove that these are displaced Rohingyas, who fled Rakhine following brutal persecution.

The Annan report is clearly a tailored document that fits in with the Rohingya expulsion plan of the Myanmar junta. The Commission was set up by Suu Kyi, presumably at the junta's advice, to deflect world opinion. It neither had any international mandate nor was Bangladesh involved in setting it up.

The junta has been planning for decades to change the demographic composition of Rakhine. It had planned to expel the Rohingya Muslims and Hindus from Rakhine and establish Buddhist majority in the state. That policy led to repeated violence against the Rohingyas since 1978 and forced these people to repeatedly take refuge in Bangladesh.

After the current spate of ethnic cleansing, the junta is determined not to allow the displaced Rohingyas to return to Myanmar. The junta's policy towards Rohingyas was made abundantly clear by Myanmar's Army Chief General Min Aung Hlaing when he said, “They have demanded recognition as Rohingyas, which has never been an ethnic group in Myanmar.” The Myanmar military has planted landmines along the border with Bangladesh. According to reports, it has mobilised 70 battalions of troops with heavy artillery and equipment to crush ARSA insurgency and thwart the Rohingyas from returning to Rakhine.

Referring to the process of repatriation of Rohingyas, Guterres said that the 1993 Joint Statement by the Foreign Ministers of Bangladesh and Myanmar was not sufficient in the present circumstances. “The Muslims of Rakhine state should be granted nationality” the Secretary General insisted. If Suu Kyi's offer for the verification process is taken along with the Annan recommendations, only a handful of Rohingyas will be able to go back to Myanmar—much less than those of 1978 and 1993. General Hlaing, it seems, will certainly not agree to take back all the Rohingyas.

The Rohingya issue is an internal issue for Myanmar; but has become an international issue because of the exodus of Rohingyas into Bangladesh. Therefore, Bangladesh must keep the UN Security Council fully involved in the repatriation of these people and in resolving the problem permanently. It would be a folly if Bangladesh tries to resolve this problem bilaterally with Myanmar.

Bangladesh has to convince China and Russia and get the UNSC to adopt a binding resolution with the following included: i) impose economic sanctions on Myanmar, for as long as this crisis is not permanently resolved; ii) repatriation of all Rohingyas within a fixed timeframe, under UN supervision; and, iii) grant full citizenship to all Rohingyas with their human rights fully recognised.

Unless the UNSC comes forward with a stringent resolution under Chapter VII of its Charter, it appears that Bangladesh is doomed to host these hapless Rohingyas for a long time.
Mahmood Hasan is former Ambassador and Secretary.
http://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/bystander/can-rohingyas-return-their-homeland-1470073

 

[Samurai_assassin]

what part of 'i am not her advisor' do you not understand clown go get yourself admitted in broadmoor

What part of her being the elected BD prime minister don't you get clown? Maybe you need to be put into a mental asylum. Whatever her decisions are will directly involve Bangladesh. Don't be angry with me, remember we have nothing to do with Bangladesh but your clown leader just can't stop involving Pakistan in her daily mental breakdowns. She needs to join the circus.

 

[Banglar Bir]

12:00 PM, October 06, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:37 PM, October 06, 2017
Crackdown on Rohingyas in Myanmar could draw int'l terrorists: US

Myanmar's military crackdown that has caused a half-million Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh could destabilize the region and invite international terrorists, the State Department says Thursday, October 5, 2017. Photo: Anisur Rahman
AP, Washington
Myanmar's military crackdown that has caused a half-million Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh could destabilise the region and invite international terrorists, the US State Department said Thursday.
But Patrick Murphy, a senior US official for Southeast Asia, would not say whether the Trump administration would impose targeted sanctions against Myanmar's military.

Addressing the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Murphy said security forces were to blame for a "disproportionate response" to Rohingya insurgent attacks six weeks ago. He equivocated on whether it amounted to ethnic cleansing, preferring instead to describe the situation as a "human tragedy."

That drew objections from lawmakers.

"We identify this as full-fledged ethnic cleansing," said Representative Ed Royce, the Republican committee chairman. Senior UN officials have used similar language.
READ MORE: Bangladesh to move ahead despite Rohingya influx
Murphy said that in addition to the half-million who have fled to Bangladesh, an estimated 200,000 people have been internally displaced in Myanmar's strife-hit Rakhine State. Despite government assurances that security operations halted a month ago, vigilantes are still reportedly committing arson attacks on Rohingya homes and blocking humanitarian assistance, he said.

"Burma's nascent democracy is at a turning point and a heavy-handed response invites international terrorists and challenges for other neighbors," Murphy said, referring to the alternative name for Myanmar, where long-standing sectarian tensions between majority Buddhists and the Rohingya have spiraled as the country has opened up.

He said the US has discussed the situation with other countries in Southeast Asia — where the Philippines, and Muslim-majority nations like Malaysia and Indonesia, have grappled with terrorist attacks and extremist violence.

Representative Eliot Engel, the committee's top-ranking Democrat, said the US should consider sanctions on Myanmar's military leadership and businesses that were lifted by the Obama administration to reward Myanmar's shift to democracy after five decades of direct military rule. A weak civilian government took power last year.

Murphy said the administration is "exploring all options available to us to effect change." The US already has substantial restrictions on the military and only very rarely grants US visas to members of the military and their families, he said.

He said the Min Aung Hlaing, the commander in chief of Myanmar's armed forces, "has enormous responsibility to stop the violence" and address security threats in a "proper manner." But he added that there are other contributors to the violence, including Rohingya militants and vigilantes — a reference to Buddhist thugs who have also attacked Rohingya.

Engel said satellite imagery and witness accounts indicate that Myanmar's military and security forces "have been carrying out an intentional, systematic policy to drive Rohingya from their homes in Burma and to burn their villages to the ground."

He said hundreds of Rohingya have been treated for gunshot wounds inflicted by security forces as they fled.

While Murphy steered clear of describing that as "ethnic cleansing," he pointed to comments by US Cabinet members, such as UN ambassador Nikki Haley who last week described it as a "brutal, sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority."
http://www.thedailystar.net/rohingy...rnational-terrorists-united-states-us-1472431

 

[Banglar Bir]

The Rohingya should be treated as our own
Tanim Ahmed
Published at 07:29 PM September 16, 2017
Last updated at 11:12 PM September 16, 2017

Bangladeshi volunteers from the Chhagalnaiya village council distribute food donations to Rohingya Muslim refugees at Naikhongchhari in Chittagong on September 10, 2017AFP
I would dread repatriation if I were a Rohingya
What is another million when we already have 160 million ourselves?

The prime minister’s sentiment is actually true except that the 160 million she mentioned are Bangladeshis and mostly left to their own devices for a livelihood. Now that the prime minister’s comments will have triggered a predictable sycophantic frenzy of about face among the most voluble and violent critics of Rohingya, it is probably time to recognise that we will not be able to wish them away, however much we want to.

The well over million Rohingya who will have been sheltered in Bangladesh before the yearend, will probably be the highest concentration and one of the few unfortunate examples where an entire ethnic community has been uprooted, an instance of successful ethnic cleansing while the world watched. The Rohingya have been fleeing Myanmar in search of refuge for almost four decades now. And they are not going back.

To begin with, Myanmar is not going to turn around and say, “My bad. So sorry. Come along folks. Lets start over.” Not with China and India cajoling and coaxing the regime. But even if by a miracle Myanmar did say that, the Rohingyas would hardly return. A father who watched his five year old shot, a girl who saw her parents mutilated, people who saw their homes burnt will simply not accept the assurances of the very people who had turned on them. Indeed, if I were a Rohingya I would run and hide in the densest darkest patch of the Sundarbans. I would dread repatriation if I were a Rohingya.

What it basically comes down to is that Bangladesh will have become the new home of the Rohingya for all intents and purposes. But the government has to pretend that it is a ‘temporary problem’ perhaps because of all kinds of political considerations. Easy acceptance of the Rohingya as permanent residents might encourage India to push in a few hundred thousand unwanted Muslims too, for instance.

Be that as it may, there is simply no getting around the point that the Rohigya are here and they are not going anywhere. Bangladesh needs to realise it is a ‘permanent situation’ and change up how to go about it. There should be calls for other countries to pull their share of housing the Rohingya. The obvious candidates, playing the religion card, would be the oil rich gulf countries besides of course Turkey. Then there is Europe or even the North and South American countries.

The government realises that it will not be able to feed and care for so many people but it seems to be holding out for eventual repatriation, which won’t happen. As soon as this sinks in, however, the authorities will realise that there will never be enough funds to care for the refugees. Hence, they must earn their keep whether through food for work schemes of the government or proper paying jobs.

As such the Rohingya must be allowed civic amenities and privileges — citizenship should only be a protracted inevitability — to make a living and stop being a burden. That the Rohingya engage in criminal activity is but natural given that they cannot get proper employment. It will be in everyone’s interest to make sure that Rohingya children receive proper education and health care so that they can take care of their parents and their children.

Sooner or later they will have adopted this country. Might as well treat them as our own.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/south-asia/2017/09/16/rohingya-repatriation-unlikely/

 

[Banglar Bir]

Dreams turned to dust
Tribune Editorial
Published at 03:49 PM October 19, 2017

As we provide aid and shelter to the Rohingya, let us not forget that so many Bangladeshis live in desperation and poverty
Every year, thousands of Bangladeshis make perilous journeys across dangerous waters in search of a better life.

And many end up losing their lives to the journey.

It is indeed disheartening to see that so many Bangladeshis are so dissatisfied with their lives that they choose to risk it all for a shot at a better life elsewhere.

By recent reports, a $10,000 journey to Italy via Libya was taken by as many as 30,000 Bangladesh from March to June this year.

Sadly, to make this journey, people are selling their possessions and borrowing money to give to traffickers, who take advantage of desperate citizens.

What is worse: The boats which are utilised more often than not end up capsizing, leading to the loss of hundreds of innocent lives.

These traffickers, who provide false promises of better opportunities, end up kidnapping these people only to be sold back to the families at even higher costs.

This is a horrifying and unacceptable practice that must be stopped at all costs.

One reason people keep continuing to take such huge risks is that, despite our rather significant economic growth, we have failed to create enough jobs to meet the demands of our burgeoning populace.

Though we have focused on our IT sector to fill this gap, this might not be enough.

As we provide aid and shelter to the Rohingya, let us not forget that so many Bangladeshis live in desperation and poverty.

But the main culprits here remain the traffickers. We need to deal with them harshly so that no more of our citizens have to be victimised at their hand.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/editorial/2017/10/19/dreams-turned-dust/