What if I told you that the world’s most emotional refugee crisis is also its most profitable illegal industry? That the Rohingya story, sold for years as a tragedy of statelessness, is now a supply chain, a political instrument, and a shadow economy spanning Cox’s Bazar to Karimganj, Chattogram brokers to Delhi’s slum networks, Western donor boards to Gulf-state pulpits. And for years, the world has quietly outsourced this entire burden to one country: India.

The irony? Nations that refuse to host even one Rohingya lecture India on compassion. Political actors who preach open borders demand fencing at election time. NGOs that chant “human rights" hide data on forged documents and trafficking.

As Parliament debates illegal immigration and the Supreme Court reminds the nation that “India is not a Dharamshala", one truth stands out: this crisis is no longer about refugees, it is about India refusing to remain the world’s unpaid border-security guard. Nearly 40,000 Rohingyas reside illegally in India, and while the suffering of genuine refugees is real, the solutions cannot be naïve.

Global solidarity around the Rohingya issue collapses the moment real responsibility is required. Saudi Arabia began deporting Rohingya detainees in 2019. Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the UAE make loud speeches on “Muslim persecution" but have no meaningful Rohingya resettlement programmes. Malaysia and Thailand have repeatedly intercepted Rohingya boats and, in several cases, pushed them back to sea. Indonesia, which once allowed landings on humanitarian grounds, now faces public backlash and has tightened entry following protests in Aceh. China shields Myanmar diplomatically at the UN while avoiding any refugee intake. Western governments fund reports and express “deep concern", yet UNHCR data shows only negligible Rohingya resettlement compared to the scale of displacement.

Bangladesh, which bore the initial humanitarian burden with dignity, has repeatedly asked the world to help relocate even a small number. No one stepped forward. Repatriation has stalled because Myanmar refuses to accept Rohingyas and Bangladesh refuses to naturalise them, leaving India trapped between two immovable positions and a crisis that has no exit route except into Indian territory.

This selective morality isn’t accidental. It is geopolitical convenience. The crisis is kept alive because it helps everyone, except India.

What keeps the crisis running is not sympathy. It is profit. The Rohingya crisis today is a region-wide illegal industry.

Cox’s Bazar is not merely a refugee settlement; it has become a launch point for well-documented smuggling and trafficking networks. Multiple studies show that Rohingyas are moved by brokers operating across Teknaf and southeastern Bangladesh into India through informal corridors, often entering via Tripura and filtering into........

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