No progress on Rohingya repatriation; golden jubilee of independence and Bangabandhu birth centenary celebrated
Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan: The diplomacy of Bangladesh in the outgoing year 2021 was marked by success in procuring Covid-19 vaccines and sanctions by the United States on officials of the elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and several of its former and serving top officials.
The year also saw Bangladesh celebrate its golden jubilee of independence and the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
As in the previous year, there was no progress with regard to the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas, who took shelter in Cox’s Bazar to save their lives from the brutal atrocities orchestrated by the Myanmar security forces, local Buddhist mobs and people from different ethnic groups in Rakhine.
As compared to 2020, engagements with other countries increased. After a pause caused by the pandemic, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina undertook visits to the US, United Kingdom, France and the Maldives in 2021.
Vaccine diplomacy
At one stage, Bangladesh found itself in a very challenging situation with respect to the procurement of vaccines to fight the ongoing pandemic due to the failure of the Serum Institute of India to supply the vaccines under a deal and the unavailability of the shots throughout the world owing to high infection rates.
Despite some anxious times, China came to the aid of the country by providing much-needed vaccines. China also agreed to co-produce vaccines in Bangladesh.
Later, Bangladesh received a substantial amount of jabs from quite a few countries, especially from the US and Japan.
US sanctions against RAB and its officials
On December 10, the US government hit RAB as an organization and seven of its former and serving top officials with sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses. The officials include former RAB director general (DG) and incumbent Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed and incumbent RAB DG Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.
The US action created quite a stir in the country, forcing a number of senior ministers to defend the elite force and criticize the US government. Lately, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has appeared to have taken a conciliatory tone on the issue and has had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
Earlier, the US decision not to invite Bangladesh to a Democracy Summit, hosted by President Joe Biden, seemed to have irked the government.
Celebrations of golden jubilee of independence and Bangabandhu birth centenary
Bangladesh celebrated the golden jubilee of independence and the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the outgoing year.
Apart from many programmes both at home and abroad, the presidents of India and Nepal and prime ministers of Bhutan, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka visited the country.
The visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was marred by deadly protests although the visits of other dignitaries took place peacefully.
No progress on Rohingya repatriation
There has been no progress whatsoever in relation to the repatriation of the Rohingyas in the outgoing year solely due to the unwillingness of the Myanmar military regime to engage on the issue.
The military junta, which overthrew the government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, continues ignoring world opinion and bilateral instruments signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar on the repatriation of the Rohingyas.
Making matters even worse, pro-repatriation Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah was gunned down by miscreants on September 29 in a camp.
The Rohingya camps witnessed quite a few incidents of violence in the outgoing year.
Although no success was there on the repatriation issue, there has been something positive for the government in regard to the relocation of Rohingyas from the camps in Cox’s Bazar to Bhashan Char, an island in the Bay of Bengal developed by the Bangladesh Navy.
Following lengthy wrangling, the government was able to convince the United Nations to engage in Bhashan Char operationally. In this regard, the government and the UN signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in October.