IUB holds conference on Rohingya refugee crisis

Independent University, Bangladesh or IUB has organised a daylong conference on the Rohingya refugee crisis.

The Global Studies and Governance Pogramme of the IUB School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences organised the event titled ‘Rohingya: City on the Hill’ on its campus in Dhaka on Jan 24, 2021.

The programme highlighted the humanitarian and repatriation challenges that heightened with the influx of more than 700,000 refugees from Myanmar into Bangladesh in 2017.

The inaugural session took place in the morning where

British High Commissioner Robert Dickson, chief guest of the opening session, expressed hope about a quick and sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis.

The British envoy said that the United Kingdom would stay beside Bangladesh in addressing Rohingya-related challenges.

Giorgi Gigauri, mission chief of the International Organization on Migration, and Fumiko Kashiwa, assistant representative of UNHCR, attended the session.

A Matin Chowdhury, chairman of IUB Board of Trustees, and Nilufer Zafarullah, chairman of Education, Science, Technology and Cultural Development Trust or ESTCDT, and IUB’s Acting Vice Chancellor Prof Milan Pagon also spoke on the occasion.

“The recent Rohingya exodus is different from other exoduses of the 80s and the 90s as modern technologies like satellite images showed that there was clearly a genocidal intent from Myanmar,” said Professor Imtiaz Ahmed of the Dhaka University’s international relations department.

More countries should come forward and take provisional measures against Myanmar, he said.

Imtiaz A Hussain, acting dean of IUB, welcomed the guests.

The organisers held three more sessions with the participation of educationists, scholars, policymakers and professional specialists.

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen was the chief guest at the closing session while World Bank Country Director Mercy Tembon and UN Resident Coordinator Mia Seppo were present as special guests.

IUB’s faculty members were also present along with the guests.