Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam/Be it ever
so humble, there's no place like home;” yet the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
do not want to return to their homes in Rakhine State of Myanmar, where
generations of them have lived for centuries. One could have asked why, had the
reasons not been so obvious.
The Rohingyas were victims of massive periodic military
crackdowns in which thousands of them were killed, women raped, children burnt
alive and their villages were burnt to ashes—besides other monstrosities. As of
now, some 1.3 million Rohingyas (including those from previous influxes) are
sheltered in Bangladesh. Several thousand more were killed in Rakhine during
the military crackdown. Bangladesh's commiseration for the fleeing and
persecuted overrode her initial reluctance to open her borders to allow the
Rohingyas in.
All these heinous atrocities were perpetrated more
frequently since the promulgation of the new citizenship law of 1982 in
Myanmar, which rendered the Rohingyas stateless and resulted in the deprivation
of all their basic and fundamental rights. Today, the Rohingyas are the single
largest stateless community in the world. They are not entitled to any legal
protection from the government. Since the loss of their citizenship, they have
lived without any defence, at the mercy of the military and the
ultra-nationalist Buddhist zealots.
Under pressure from the international community, Myanmar
signed a bilateral instrument with Bangladesh (Arrangement on return of
displaced persons from Rakhine State) on November 23, 2017 to begin
repatriation of the first batch of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh in two
months. Myanmar, however, showed no signs of earnestness to act according to
the provisions of the agreement. So, the planned repatriation has not begun.
As per a fresh decision taken by the two countries in the
3rd Joint Working Group meeting that took place in Dhaka on October 30, the
repatriation was to commence on November 15 and the first group of 2,200
refugees were to be repatriated by the end of November. But it had to be
stalled amid protests at the refugee camps. None of those on the list agreed to
be repatriated until their demands for justice, restoration of citizenship, and
rehabilitation in their original villages and lands were met by Myanmar. The UN
refugee agency and aid groups also opposed the commencement of repatriation at
this time, fearing for the safety of the Rohingyas.
The questions that naturally strike us are: How can we
expect the Rohingyas to return to their homeland if it still remains a place of
terror and persecution for them? How can they be sure there will not be any
recurrence of the same atrocities against them upon their return?
Has the world been able to ensure the safety, security
and dignity for them to return? Has it been able to compel Myanmar to restore
the citizenship of the Rohingyas—which it revoked in 1982—along with all the
concomitant rights and facilities that citizenship implies? It is because of
the support of some major powers of the world that Myanmar has been able to get
away with committing crimes against humanity. It is again because of them that
the UNSC and the ICC have remained largely ineffectual against the
perpetrators.
The world knows very well what is necessary for a durable
and honorable solution to the Rohingya crisis. The Advisory Commission on
Rakhine State (the Kofi Annan Commission) that was set up by the Myanmar
authorities themselves showed through its recommendations how to make Rakhine
“a peaceful, fair and prosperous” place. The commission presented its final
report and recommendations to the Myanmar government on August 23, 2017. The
report recommended urgent and continued action across several sectors to avert
violence, uphold peace and promote reconciliation among the Rakhine population.
Regretfully, just two days after the submission of the
report, came the massive crackdown on the Rohingyas. The international
community's pressure on Myanmar to implement the recommendations has so far
been minimal and practically futile because it has been shielded from paying
any price for its actions by some powerful countries.
Bangladesh's sincere attempts to resolve the crisis
bilaterally with Myanmar haven't gone far because of the absolute lack of
political will and sincerity on the part of Myanmar to make any substantive
move towards a sustainable solution. The sum total of the combined efforts of
the UN, UNHCR and other UN bodies, and that of countries like the US, UK,
France, Canada, Malaysia and Turkey, unfortunately, has had little impact so far
on Myanmar's military and government.
They have continued to flout any pressure from the
international community to create a situation in Rakhine conducive to the
sustainable return of the Rohingyas. They have continued to ignore the
recommendations of the Kofi Annan Commission. And the atrocities against the
Rohingyas who are still in Rakhine continue today, albeit at a lower intensity;
as a result, small groups of persecuted Rohingyas still keep trickling into
Bangladesh.
The outrageous persecution of the Rohingyas by the
Myanmar military is a shameful blot on the world community at a time when human
beings are expected to be more progressive and enlightened than at any other
time in the past; and when the dignity of and respect for the human person, and
human rights should override all considerations of race, religion, ethnicity,
colour and creed.
It's a shame that Myanmar has accused Bangladesh of
failing to repatriate the first batch of refugees on November 15. Blinded by
their insensibility, they cannot see the illogicality of their accusation,
which is preventing them from confessing that it's their unwillingness and
inaction to do what is needed that is thwarting any effort to start the
repatriation. It's they who are responsible for the protests and resistance of
the refugees against the commencement of repatriation. Bangladesh couldn't just
force them to return if they were not voluntarily willing to do so.
In view of this latest development, the world community
must bring fresh and mounting pressure on Myanmar, so that it takes immediate
steps towards implementing the recommendations (that include restoration of the
citizenship of the Rohingyas) of the Rakhine Advisory Commission—which had
two-thirds of its nine members from Myanmar. The international community should
also redouble its effort to persuade the great powers who are still standing by
the persecutors to shift their weight and support in favour of the persecuted
and stateless Rohingyas. To enable the repatriation plan to succeed, the world
must ensure that Myanmar is not putting the cart before the horse. If the world
succeeds in accomplishing that, the refugees would then certainly voluntarily
return to Rakhine, their homeland, and that of their forefathers for many
centuries.
Source: The Daily Star