Countless Rohingya Muslims have been forced to leave their ancestral land, Rakhine. These people have been persecuted mercilessly by the Myanmar government, an act which has been recognised as ethnic cleansing by UN officials. When it came to the attention of the world community, Bangladesh volunteered to provide asylum to this minority group.

But, how much longer will a resource-strained Bangladesh have to bear the livelihoods of nearly 1.1 million Rohingya refugees? Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina showed immense generosity towards the victims of this catastrophe during a very crucial time. But, since then, no other nation has done anything significant to ameliorate the situation.

Due to the complex web of the Rohingya camps, security is poor. Consequently, lots of Rohingyas are fleeing the camps, joining different criminal networks. There have been increased incidents of rape, human and drug trafficking. Besides the increase in crime rate, there are concerns related to social instability, economic issues and all sorts of environmental problems.

Bangladesh has shown great compassion by providing shelter to this stateless ethnic group. But now, it’s time for the world to cooperate and reach out because Bangladesh cannot bear the burden of so many refugees much longer.