Bangladesh Seeks Russia’s Help in Resolving Rohingya Refugee, Energy Crises

The IMF has agreed to provide $4.5 billion in assistance to Bangladesh, which is facing a food and energy crisis, exacerbated by the nation's dwindling foreign exchange reserve. About a million Rohingya Muslim refugees have been inflicting an additional burden on the government, which is seeking to repatriate them to Myanmar.

Bangladesh is hoping to prompt Russia to adopt a more proactive role in finding a solution to the Rohingya crisis, the country’s Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said on Sunday, indicating that the issue would hold prime importance during Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to the South Asian country later this month.

Lavrov is expected to attend the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Council of Ministers in Bangladesh on November 24.

Besides attending the meeting of the 23 nations' inter-governmental organization, Lavrov will hold discussions with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen in Dhaka.

The country of 165 million people is expecting some positive outcomes in the field of energy cooperation with Russia and importing Russian grain.

“We have invited him [Lavrov] and there is a possibility that he will be here ... visit will give us an opportunity to highlight our challenges and priority issues with Russia,” Masud Bin Momen, the country’s Foreign Secretary, told reporters.

Bangladesh’s $416 billion economy has been facing a massive power disruption due to shortages of diesel as the Sheikh Hasina government has slowed down imports to conserve the foreign exchange reserves, which are plummeting below $40 billion.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expects quick implementation of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, which was build with the help of Russia.

The South Asian country has faced the spillover effect of the armed conflict in Myanmar; around a million Rohingya, mostly Muslims, have been residing since the predominantly Muslim nation started providing shelter to them. The Rohingyas fled Myanmar during an armed conflict in 2018.

In May 2021, Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said the Rohingyas are not one of Myanmar's ethnic groups, as he claimed that these people only emerged since independence from Britain in 1948.