Rohingya 'Corridor' Poses a Threat to India's Northeast

A humanitarian corridor for the displaced Rohingyas of Myanmar's Rakhine state, through Bangladesh, has been an idea that the United Nations has been promoting ever since the Rohingya crisis began. However, after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Bangladesh in March 2025, this idea has gained greater traction.

- 

The corridor's exact location has not been made public, but it would be fair to assume that it would be astride the Naf river at Teknaf (southeast of Cox's Bazar) to Maungdaw in the Rakhine state of Myanmar. The creation of such a corridor could potentially involve Bangladesh in Myanmar's internal conflicts.

The interim Muhammad Yunus government readily agreed to this proposal of the UN. However, in Bangladesh, this decision came under criticism from other political parties, academics and security experts because it would lead to further cross-border movement of Rohingyas, thus increasing the risk of cross-border smuggling, trafficking of drugs, weapons and humans; all at the cost of internal stability. The Bangladesh Army chief, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, has also raised strong objections, in fact he has clearly told Mr Yunus not to go ahead with the proposal. A holistic look at the stakeholders involved in this humanitarian corridor and their likely stand on this is, therefore, necessary to understand the issue better.