Bangladesh Must Face Its Quiet Crisis of Internal Displacement

Opinion by Mohammad Zaman (dhaka, bangladesh)Thursday, September 17, 2026Inter Press Service DHAKA, Bangladesh, September 17 (IPS) - Bangladesh is rightly praised for saving lives during cyclones and floods. Early warning systems, cyclone shelters and community mobilisation have turned once-catastrophic disasters into emergencies in which evacuation is often possible. But behind that success lies a quieter national failure: millions of people are being uprooted inside the country, often more than once, without a clear path back to secure homes, land or livelihoods. Dr Mohammad ZamanAn internally displaced person, or IDP, is someone forced to leave home by conflict, violence, rights abuses or disasters, but who remains within their own country. That distinction is crucial. Refugees cross an international border and seek protection elsewhere. IDPs stay inside their state, where the national government remains primarily responsible for their protection and assistance.In Bangladesh, this distinction is not academic. A Rohingya family that fled Myanmar into Cox’s Bazar is rightly understood as part of a refugee crisis. A Bangladeshi family forced from a riverbank in Kazipur-Sirajganj, a...