Bangladesh is holding discussions with both Myanmar’s government and the Arakan Army to find a way out of the prolonged Rohingya crisis, Foreign Affairs State Minister Shama Obaed Islam said on Sunday.

She said the government had formed a committee to develop a national strategy on the Rohingya issue. The committee is also working to establish contact with key stakeholders in Myanmar, including the Arakan Army.

“We are talking to the Myanmar government as well as establishing contact and holding discussions with the Arakan Army,” she said at a dialogue at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka.

Shama described the Rohingya crisis as a political problem and said Bangladesh could not expect repatriation to happen through traditional diplomatic efforts alone.

She said Myanmar’s political situation remained unstable and called on all political parties in Bangladesh to work together to build international pressure on the country’s different stakeholders.

The state minister said there was already a common position among political forces in Myanmar against the return of the Rohingya. She urged the international community to take a stronger stand on their right to return to their homeland.

“We need to put pressure on the international community to change its position and recognise that the Rohingya belong to their own country and deserve to return there,” she added.

According to New Age, Shama made the remarks while outlining the government's efforts to develop a national approach to the crisis through engagement with both Myanmar's authorities and the Arakan Army.

At the same dialogue, former interim government adviser Brigadier General (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain said Bangladesh should not expect India to play a significant role in resolving the crisis.

He said Dhaka needed to look at the Rohingya issue from a strategic perspective, particularly because Bangladesh shares a border with Rakhine State, where the Arakan Army has gained control over large areas.

“We have to play a strategic game. Sooner or later, Rakhine will become either a confederated state or something similar. We must maintain good relations and negotiate with the Arakan Army, either directly or through third parties,” he said.

Hossain also urged the government to consider the proposed economic corridor with China as a possible source of strategic leverage in negotiations over Rohingya repatriation.

Bangladesh has been hosting more than a million Rohingya refugees since the mass exodus from Myanmar in 2017. Despite repeated diplomatic efforts, repatriation has yet to begin on a meaningful scale.

The latest remarks suggest that Dhaka is seeking to widen its engagement beyond Myanmar's central government as it faces the reality that any future repatriation arrangement will also depend on the political and security situation in Rakhine State.

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