Bangladesh, Burma and the Rohingya crisis
55
appears to have programmes and partners in place with the potential to demonstrate
where and how the fault-lines and weaknesses within that positive picture might be
mitigated. This is particularly important in view of the Sustainable Development
Goals’ emphasis on ‘leaving no-one behind’ which points to a focus on extreme poverty,
women and girls and disabled people in Bangladesh.
140. A crucial test will be how Bangladesh responds to, and copes with, a number of
forthcoming challenges; and what further assistance DFID and the UK Government
can deliver and help orchestrate from the rest of the international community. We see
these as:
•
the fair and peaceful conduct of the forthcoming elections and the relaxing
of the space for debate and criticism between and from all the elements of
civil society.
•
tackling the inequalities and fragilities within the overall positive economic
outlook to avoid reaching the limits of capacity and perhaps stalling or
freezing further improvements for all of Bangladesh, and
•
maintaining the focus, in line with the relevant UK development assistance
statute, on the inequalities suffered by Bangladeshi women and girls in
terms of abuse and sexual violence (inside and outside matrimony), access
to a continuing education, child marriage and to uneven earning power and
promotion prospects within the economy.
141. A fourth challenge is the Rohingya crisis; but it is most clearly not a challenge
for Bangladesh alone. Bangladesh is to be thanked and commended for opening its
borders to these refugees fleeing violent persecution in Burma. Bangladesh needs to
face up to the requirement for a long-term solution and, the international community
should provide the required resources.
142. The objective assessment is for just under $1 billion per year to meet the needs
of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The international community, with the UK
in the lead, should call on the World Bank to come up with one or more funding
instruments for use by the international community to provide resources to countries
providing a global ‘public good’ by hosting refugees, migrants or displaced persons.