Policy Approval Granted for Permanent Infrastructure Development for Rohingyas

The government has given policy approval to construct permanent infrastructure for forcibly displaced Rohingyas with financial assistance from the World Bank and the Government of Bangladesh. The project will be implemented through direct procurement by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

On Tuesday (18 November), the proposal received policy approval at a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Economic Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, held at the Cabinet Division’s conference room in the Secretariat.

According to meeting sources, the Advisory Committee on Economic Affairs has given policy approval for implementing work under Package HELP/UN-1 through direct procurement by the UN agency IOM, under the project titled ‘Host and FDMN Enhancement of Lives through Infrastructure Improvement Project (HELP)’, being implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) with financial support from the World Bank and the Government of Bangladesh.

It was learned that under the package, disaster resilience in Cox’s Bazar district, as well as access and safety for both the FDMN population and the local community, will be improved. The cost will amount to Tk 363 crore.

Regarding the matter, the Economic Adviser said, “Today, an important agenda was regarding the infrastructure for Myanmar’s forcibly displaced Rohingyas. There is some grant money available, and we will use that to build these facilities.”

When asked, “At the beginning of your remarks, you referred to them as Myanmar refugees—have we changed their status?”, the Economic Adviser responded, “No, no—forcedly displaced Rohingya. We will send them back as soon as possible. But in the meantime, no one wants them to live in inhumane conditions. This infrastructure is being provided for that.”

“I cannot disclose details today. It came to the Economic Affairs Committee. They will bring the specific details later,” he added.

Meanwhile, other proposals approved at the meeting were:

To achieve timely and risk-free procurement of rice for state emergency needs, the Ministry of Food proposed reducing the tender submission deadline for importing 300,000 metric tonnes of rice through International Open Tender (IOT) from 42 days to 15 days from the date of newspaper advertisement, as per Rule 102(1)(a) of PPR 2025. The Advisory Committee has given policy approval to the proposal.

In response to another proposal from the Ministry of Food, the Advisory Committee also gave policy approval for the international open tender purchase of 300,000 metric tonnes of wheat and for G2G-based wheat procurement in accordance with Section 68(1) of the Public Procurement Act 2006 and Rule 99(2) of PPR 2025.