PHILOSOPHER George Santayana once said that
those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.
In this case, the Rohingya are doomed because
those in power refuse to learn from history. The Rohingya are again forced to
return to Myanmar. There are reports of the presence of army and police at the
camps in Cox’s Baazar, Bangladesh. This is indicative that the repatriation may
not be voluntary.
There is even a report of a Rohingya leader
being physically abused for failing to provide a list of returnees and not
consenting to accept the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’
biometric cards.
Some have even fled the refugee camps to
avoid returning to Myanmar and some tried to commit suicide. The fear is real.
This is a gross violation of human rights.
This is done even when international human rights organisations and the UN have
warned of serious security risks of “forced repatriation” of the Rohingya under
the repatriation plan agreed between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The repatriation of the first batch of 2,200
refugees was to begin last month but it stalled amid protests at the refugee
camps.
It is important to note that during the
drafting of the agreement, no one consulted the Rohingya or informed them about
the repatriation plan.
The Myanmar government agreed to the plan and
rushed its counterparts to speed up the process as it wanted to ease
international pressure to take responsibility for the Rakhine crisis.
The International Criminal Cour t’s (ICC)
chief prosecutor has announced an investigation into the alleged forced
deportations to Bangladesh in September, which Myanmar denied. It said ICC had
no jurisdiction over Myanmar as it is not a party to the Rome Statute and
therefore, had no obligation to abide by it.
While this arrogance is not surprising,
history has taught us that Myanmar is not to be trusted.
Not once has Myanmar committed to giving or
restoring the rights of the Rohingya as citizens prior to the 1982 Citienship
Law.
The inaction of the National League for
Democracy gove rnment and Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s armed forces) on the widespread
hate speech over Facebook and on the Internet; the slow response in stopping
the MaBaTha (The Patriotic Association of Myanmar) and fiery monks like Wirathu
or Parmaukha from preaching racism; anti-Rohingya and anti-Muslim sentiments;
and the crackdown on journalists and reporters are signs of Myanmar’s lack of
respect for international outcry.
Now that violence has spread and intensified
on the Kachin, it seems that the same modus operandi is being applied to this
Christian group.
It is not enough for Asean to discuss and
agree on the repatriation.
Pressure must be put on Myanmar to restore
the rights and guarantee the safety, security and dignity of the Rohingya prior
to their return to Rakhine.
We do not want to see a repeat of the
disastrous failed repatriation in 1978 and 1993.
This should not be a precedent to the world
that a country can escape genocide allegations with impunity.
We have se en th e United States, France and
Canada voice their concern, and Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei
pushing for harsher action against Myanmar over the Rakhine crisis.
Safety and security must be rendered to all
minorities in Myanmar, including the Kachin, so that history won’t repeat
itself.
An estimated 13,700 deaths, hundreds of
thousands of injuries and allegations of violence — numbers provided by MSF
Australia — during the exodus last year should not be ignored.
In fact, despite the ICC ruling, governments
should support the report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission
on Myanmar to investigate and prosecute members of Myanmar military for crimes
against humanity and war crimes in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States.
Any delay in action increases the chances
that evidence will be lost, reducing the possibility of effective prosecution.
The time to act is now.
Source: nst
Source: nst