Census on illegal Rohingyas

The government has taken - albeit belatedly -a move, reports the FE on Saturday, to enumerate the undocumented Rohingyas in the country. This is at a time when on an average eight to 10 Myanmar nationals are infiltrating Bangladesh daily. The two neighbouring countries share a common border of 271 kilometres and it is simply not understandable why stringent steps have not yet been in place to tighten the border and stop further Rohingya influx. Lack of any initiative to record the exact number of the Myanmar nationals since their first mass entry into the country in 1991 has only encouraged the illegal migration.
As reports have it, most of the undocumented Rohingyas have, by this time, mingled with the country's population leaving almost no trace of identification as citizens of Myamnar. This is attributed to the absence of any strict monitoring by the border guards and other security forces. Physically the Rohingyas look like the Bangalees and their language too is similar to local dialects of Chittagong. This is why it must be difficult now for the enumerators to find them out without. Illegal Rohingyas will never admit for plausible reasons that they are from Myanmar. As one of the poorest and most densely-populated countries in the world, it is simply impossible for Bangladesh to permanently resettle the refugees. Bangladesh at first welcomed the Rohingyas, who are Muslim and culturally and ethnically similar to Bangladeshis but overpopulation and land scarcity in the country have already turned local people hostile to them. Tens of thousands more Rohingyas entered Bangladesh since the 1991-92 exodus, with the UNHCR camps sheltering them and the shantytowns around Cox's Bazar providing for them.
Although it's a laudable move, the first-ever census on undocumented Myanmar nationals is making a very slow progress. Allocation of funds for the census has only been sought and it is uncertain when the money will be made available for the project. As officials said, they will discuss their preparations with the national taskforce committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the issue and a final decision will come from the taskforce. But no further delay in launching the census should be made. Although Bangladesh is taking care of the documented Rohingyas in two make-shift camps, the country faces an uphill task in handling thousands of undocumented ones. The government has quite rightly banned marriages of the Rohingyas with Bangladeshis in order to avoid further complexities and the subsequent catastrophe.
It is now time for Bangladesh to launch a global campaign aimed at forcing Myanmar to accept the Rohingyas as its citizens. The Prime Minister as well as top government leaders visited Yangon a number of times but could not still make Myanmar convinced of the need to settle the Rohingya issue. Bangladesh should also seek assistance of the UN and the ASEAN as key players in helping stop further intrusion of the Rohingyas into the country. The Myanmar government must restore their citizenship rights as this alone can lead to a lasting solution to the refugee crisis.