FE Report
Media experts have voiced concerns over the uncertainty and slow process of repatriating Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to their homeland, Myanmar.
They expressed worries at a roundtable styled 'Migration-Challenges and Approaches in the East and the West' at a city hotel on Saturday.
Deutsche Welle chief editor Ines Pohl, who recently visited refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, shared her experiences and thoughts at the event.
"Our team talked to some women and men and they told us that they want to go back to Myanmar," she said.
"We talked to some locals and they want them to go back home. That's the only thing they want," Ms Pohl added.
She called for finding ways to get them out of the state of denial and giving them a chance to get integrated and start education here.
They should be given a chance to find jobs and start a life in Bangladesh, the chief editor of the German public broadcaster said.
She said security of Rohingya women and girls, their early marriage and rights violations are key challenges for Bangladesh to overcome in the coming days.
Toufique Imrose Khalidi, editor-in-chief of bdnews24.com, was present at the discussion.
He said Bangladesh as a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention called the Rohingya as 'forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals'.
But the Myanmar military rulers and their political grandees called them 'Bengalees'.
It is formally and informally recognised that the Rohingya are going to stay for a certain period in Bangladesh, Mr Khalidi said.
The Asian Development Bank and the World Bank offered a three-year funding plan for them, he mentioned.
Mr Khalidi referred to a deal signed by Bangladesh and Myanmar to complete the repatriation within two years.
"Life is harder there. They have seen their parents raped brutally, gang-raped. They have seen their parents killed," he stated.
"They think whatever the conditions may be, these camps are still better than the situation back home in Rakhine," cited the chief of the online newspaper.
Debarati Guha, head of DW Asia Programme, moderated the discussion.
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