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The Rohingya crisis has worsened with more displaced people from the conflict-ridden Rakhine State of Myanmar entering Bangladesh while not a single person of them has returned to their homeland over the past eight years of the large-scale exodus since August 25, 2017.

Meanwhile, the international agencies’ funding for the Rohingyas sheltered in camps mostly in Cox’s Bazar has reduced, multiplying the crisis for Bangladesh hosting more than 12 lakh Rohingyas, nearly 7.5 lakh of whom have fled the Myanmar military crackdown in Rakhine in 2017.

Neither Bangladesh-Myanmar bilateral efforts nor a trilateral initiative involving China for the repatriation of the Rohingyas, an ethnic minority community which is denied citizenship and rights to land ownership in its own country, has made any progress so far, except 1,80,000 Rohingyas verified by the Myanmar authorities for their return to that country so far out a pre-selected list of 8,00,000 living in Bangladesh camps.

‘More Rohingyas are still crossing into Bangladesh due to the ongoing conflict in the Rakhine State. We have counted fresh arrivals of around 1.2 lakh  Rohingyas since 2024,’ additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner Abu Saleh Mohammad Obaidullah told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· on Saturday.

He said that the recent fund cuts by international agencies had multiplied the crisis as even their learning centres operated by UNICEF were being shut.

Although international communities, including the United Nations organisations and China have assured that they would facilitate the return of the forcibly displaced people by creating a congenial atmosphere in Myanmar, no Rohingya has returned home yet, according to officials.    

Against this backdrop, the interim government is set to organise a three-day  stakeholders’ dialogue in Cox’s Bazar from today with representatives from 40 countries as a preparatory event for a high-level conference in New York on September 30 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to take Rohingya people’s voices with the global community.

‘Despite efforts, there is no progress in the return of Rohingyas,’ said former ambassador and Bangladesh Enterprise Institute president M Humayun Kabir on Saturday.

Asked for comments, he said that Bangladesh had to explore alternative avenues to resolve the crisis rooted in Myanmar’s internal problem and make diplomatic efforts to raise the issue both in regional forums like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and international forums more effectively to reorder Myanmar’s internal situation.

Humayn, also a retired foreign secretary, said that the Rohingya crisis could not be resolved without ensuring a congenial atmosphere in Rakhine for their safe, voluntary, and dignified return to Myanmar, a Southeast Asian country in a civil war since 2021 with the Rakhine State now being largely controlled by the ethnic armed group, Arakan Army.

The event titled ‘Stakeholders’ Dialogue: Takeaways to the High-Level Conference on the Rohingya Situation’ in Cox’s Bazar would be a preparatory event for the ‘High-Level Conference on the Rohingya Crisis’ scheduled for September 30 in New York on the sidelines of the UNGA, chief adviser’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam told a press briefing on Thursday, adding that chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus would grace the occasion as the chief guest today.

Noting that the interim government was taking the Rohingya issue very seriously, he said that three major international conferences were planned to make the Rohingya crisis once again a key topic of global discussion. 

Experts -- both from home and abroad, diplomats, representatives from the Rohingyas, international organisations, and academics would join the dialogue. 

The dialogue is also expected to take stock of the various aspects of the crisis, including funding gaps for the Rohingyas in the camps, recent developments in Rakhine, dignified repatriation of the Rohingyas and a way forward for a sustainable solution to the crisis, according to a foreign ministry release issued on Thursday.

Myanmar’s military regime and international communities, including the UN Refugee Agency, have generally been blamed for the failure to resolve the protracted crisis as Rohingya people are unwilling to return until a congenial atmosphere is ensured for them in the Rakhine State of Myanmar.

Rohingyas largely depend on the food rations provided by the UN’s World Food Programme as they have little scope to go outside the camps and earn money to ensure food and other necessities for their family members, said officials overseeing Rohingya issues and community leaders.

The UN food ration cut would adversely impact their need for food and, as a result, they would try to go outside their camps illegally to earn money and hence might be resisted by the law enforcement agencies and members of the host community.

The United Nations World Food Programme on March 7 warned of a critical funding shortfall for its emergency response operations in Bangladesh, jeopardising food assistance for over 10 lakh displaced Rohingya people in the host country.

The WFP monthly food rations have later been halved to $6 per person, down from $12.50 per person, with effect from April 1.

In the beginning of 2025, UNICEF estimated that 14,200 children in the Rohingya refugee camps would suffer acute malnutrition in 2025.