New $951m response plan to support Rohingyas
Nearly 32pc of previous response plan unmet
HUMAYUN KABIR BHUIYAN
It is going to be difficult to meet the new response of $ 951 million plan launched in Geneva on March 16 to look after hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas due to apparent fading interests of the donors and other conflicts across the world, senior Bangladeshi and international diplomats have told The Independent. And, according to former and serving senior Bangladeshi diplomats, Dhaka will have to ensure that the problem does not go away from the minds of the international players who, prior to the crisis, led Dhaka to believe that money was not going to be a problem.
At the same time, they said that Bangladesh will have to make sure that with the time the crisis created due to presence of more than one million Rohingyas, who had to flee their homes in Rakhine to escape from the unprecedented brutalities of the Myanmar security forces, local Buddhist mobs and people belonging to other ethnic groups, does not become merely a problem for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh must constantly remind the international community the wider regional and global implications of a prolonged crisis including radicalisation, terrorism and violent extremism, they added.
As the problem lingers, the attention fades away thats the nature of the beast. And, the Rohingya crisis has to compete with many other more serious conflicts across the world, said a country chief of an international agency, adding, We will make sure that it does not happen and the required money is made available.
The primary responsibility to shoulder the burden of the Rohingyas lies with Bangladesh, as the displaced people is here. The international community will help. But, its always difficult to get money out of peoples wallets, said the Bangladesh chief of another international humanitarian organisation.
In response, a top Bangladeshi diplomat said, We are doing our bit by sheltering them and providing them with the much-needed security. The international community must not forget their obligation and efforts of Bangladesh with its limited resources for Rohingyas.
We are aware that when there is gap in regards to funding other elements like terrorism, extremism find their ways. We will try our best so that it does not happen again, said a chief of a mission of an influential developed country.
The humanitarian community, led by the Inter-Sector Coordination Group in Coxs Bazar and the Strategic Executive Group in Dhaka, has worked closely with the government to draw up this Joint Response Plan (JRP) for 2018 to look after the Rohingyas including the host community. It lays out a vision for a coordinated response to address the immediate needs of the refugees and mitigate the impacts on affected host communities.
The rest of 2018 poses serious threats to the people we serve. Congested living conditions continue to foster risks such as disease outbreaks and fires. Rain and the coming monsoon season will cause flooding and landslides, said the forwarding signed by the United Nations, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Over 32 per cent of the last response plan involving $434 million that ended on February 28 was not met compromising with many of services for the persecuted people.
When asked about this, a senior IOM official said, Given the worldwide scenarios, 68 per cent fulfilment of the pledges is not bad at all. To another question, he said, Efforts are on to hold another pledging conference like the one in Geneva on October 23, 2017. You will learn about it soon.
As contacted, Coxs Bazar-based Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) Abul Kalam Azad, who is in charge of coordination regarding Rohingyas on the part of the Bangladesh government, said, As far as we know that the international community is committed to looking after the Rohingyas. We hope they will live up to their pledges.
