Photo-collected.
Dhaka //

The Rohingya crisis will become a threat to the world if it is not resolved quickly, said Foreign Affairs Advisor Towhid Hossain. He said, ‘I do not think it will be resolved very quickly and very easily. But one thing I would like to mention here is that if this problem is not resolved, it will become a problem for the world.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the Bay of Bengal Dialogue at a hotel in Dhaka on Saturday (November 16), Towhid Hossain said, ‘In the last eight years, the support we expected from our neighbors, big neighbors, has not come.’

Explaining the geopolitical complexities, the Foreign Affairs Advisor said, ‘The question arises, why is China not coming forward to solve the problem on behalf of Bangladesh? Because Myanmar is very important to them for the Bay of Bengal. Similarly, India also thinks that the Kaladan project is important and good relations with Myanmar should be maintained for this project. The Kaladan Road project connects Kolkata in eastern India with the Sittwe seaport in Myanmar’s Rakhine state by sea.

Towhid Hossain said Bangladesh is caught in a vortex of competing geopolitical interests.

Noting that Bangladesh has not received the expected support from its main neighbours in resolving the Rohingya crisis, he said, “I am not blaming anyone, everyone looks after their own interests. But this does not seem to be in line with our interests on the Rohingya issue and that is why the matter has been prolonged and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.”

Expressing growing concerns about the future of the Rohingya youth, the advisor said, “This cannot be the case when the young generation, who have no hope for the future, will sit idly and watch what others are doing. There will come a time when they will become a serious problem not only for Bangladesh but also for our neighbours and other countries.”