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THE decision on a humanitarian channel that the United Nations weighs from Bangladesh to the Rakhine state of Myanmar to provide aid for the war-affected civilians there, mostly Rohingyas, is not for the interim government to make. This is, perhaps, not now for the government to make the decision either, especially when there is no parliament in place, as it involves issues that could threaten the national security of Bangladesh and peace and stability of the region. The foreign affairs adviser to the interim government on April 27 disclosed Bangladesh’s position on the UN proposal for the humanitarian channel to Rakhine, which has faced civil war since 2021, where the ethnic armed group Arakan Army is reported to have taken control of almost four-fifths of the area from Myanmar’s junta forces, creating chances for a likely humanitarian crisis as the Myanmar government has cut off all supplies to the area after it lost control of the area. The foreign affairs adviser says that Bangladesh has, in principle, agreed to provide the humanitarian channel keeping to the UN proposal. The position has rightly elicited repercussions from various quarters, including the political parties.

We at ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· like many others have always been sympathetic towards the Rohingyas, those still living in hardship in Rakhine and those now sheltered in Bangladesh after they fled military violence in their native place, whom the United Nations called the most persecuted community in the world after their large influx into Bangladesh in 2017. About 113,000 Rohingyas have freshly entered Bangladesh in November 2023–April 2025 to add to more than 1.3 million Rohingyas already living here since the late 1970s. The UN proposal is posited in the use of the channel as a safeguard against a further Rohngya influx into Bangladesh if a famine-like situation breaks out in Rakhine. But, the proposition has its ramifications that the government should consider. Experts say that as the Myanmar government has lost control of Myanmar’s state, security could be a major issue. Besides, a humanitarian channel to the conflict-ridden Rakhine is highly sensitive from the geopolitical perspective as China, Russia and India have their own interests there. It would be difficult for Bangladesh to absorb any shock that may result from the humanitarian channel that could adversely affect their interests. Some experts fear that the humanitarian channel might stand Bangladesh into ‘a proxy war.’

The interim government should, therefore, not only consult all political parties on the issue of the UN proposal for the humanitarian channel to Rakhine but also heed all — security experts, civic groups, the thinking section of society and well-meaning academicians — before it proceeds, on principle, with the proposition.