Shafiur Rahman is a journalist and documentary filmmaker focusing on the politics of refugee management in South and Southeast Asia. He writes the Rohingya Refugee News newsletter
Bangladesh’s model of Rohingya containment is not a temporary holding pattern -- it is politically and economically rewarding for the state. International actors must stop sustaining it.
Bhasan Char is a symbol of the corruption and cronyism of the last regime, a so-called humanitarian scheme that served only to line the pockets of the powerful. The Interim Government can do the right thing by making a clean break from Sheikh Hasina's most disastrous Rohingya policy.
It is merely another performance in a long-running tragedy of control, optics, and missed opportunities for real change
While much of the trafficking narrative involving Rohingya women focuses on destinations like Malaysia, Asma's story is a reminder that trafficking can take many forms and lead to various destinations
