Canadians were
shocked two years ago to learn of the rape, violence, and genocide in Myanmar.
And while we’ve done a great deal, the work has just begun – and we cannot lose
that fire
Today, the news
cameras and Canadians’ eyes have largely turned away. But the refugees
themselves do not have this luxury – and the crisis continues to this day.
But despite all that
has been done, living conditions in Cox’s Bazar remain exceptionally difficult.
Refugees are dealing with the continuing threats of harsh weather as the
monsoon season hits hard. There is no reason to believe the conditions in
Myanmar have improved; indeed, there is evidence that they have deteriorated.
Outbreaks of violence in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine region between the nationalist
Arakan Army and the Myanmar army known as the Tatmadaw have resulted in
hundreds of deaths, injuries and a lockdown in Rakhine. The Rohingya continue
to be denied any access to political dialogue about the future of Rakhine and
Myanmar, if even such dialogue is occurring.
So what can be done?
A place of mutual
interest is in solving the lack of access to education, something that Canada
has been advocating for and is keenly felt and prioritized by the Rohingya
themselves. Along with taking aim at a lack of opportunities to work and make a
living, Ottawa must continue to make primary and secondary education in Rakhine
and Bangladesh for children and adults seeking literacy and training a
significant priority. Many other countries agree with this, as do UN and NGOs
directly involved.
Bob Rae is special
envoy to Myanmar, senior counsel at OKT LLP, and teaches public policy and law
at the University of Toronto. He was previously the premier of Ontario and a
federal member of Parliament.
Two years ago this
August, the world was shocked by brutal, tragic images coming out of Myanmar.
Under the guise of a military effort in the northern Rakhine province, the
evidence piled up to expose a deep humanitarian crisis: systematic violence,
rape, burning of villages and the killing of some 10,000 Rohingya people who
make up the largest percentage of Muslims in Myanmar. More than 700,000 people
were forced to abandon their homes and villages, joining an earlier exodus of
refugees to Bangladesh – and those refugees are still there, in a crowded muddy
camp in a town on Bangladesh’s southeast coast known as Cox’s Bazar.
Canada has done a
great deal. I know firsthand, having been sent as a special envoy to Myanmar in
October, 2017, and having presented my report to Canadians in April, 2018. We
are among the first countries to have called this targeted violence against the
Rohingya a genocide, which has sparked some progress in dealing with who should
be accountable for it at the United Nations, the Human Rights Council and the
International Criminal Court. We have fostered ties with the small Rohingya
community inside our own country. Our country’s established views on gender,
sexual violence and the needs of women are widely appreciated and shared both
in the international community and among the Rohingya themselves. Canada has
played a leadership role.
One way forward is
to assist in the Rohingya community’s years-long work to amplify its voice and
grow its political power inside Myanmar, in Cox’s Bazar, in other refugee camps
in the region and in the diaspora around the world, including in Canada – a
project made easier by social media. Those voices still struggle to be heard
within their home country, as repression and a lack of participation by
Rohingya representatives in Myanmar’s civic and political processes strangle
those efforts. The Myanmar government’s refusal to end the stateless status of
the Rohingya, and deal with the underlying political and social issues prevent
further progress being made.
Canada must continue
to foster ties with the small Rohingya community inside our own country, and to
engage effectively with the growing community worldwide. Canada has avoided the
tendency to see the Rohingya as victims, whose fate will continue to be decided
by others. This has made us an effective interlocutor. Now is the time to build
on this credibility and trust.
As for Canada’s
humanitarian response, we have on the whole been effective in saving lives and
improving health outcomes. But our efforts have to do more than just allow
people to cling to life. Reports are clear that the monsoons are worse this
summer than last, and that there have been deaths in the camp as a result.
Two other major
issues remain. The first is the issue of accountability. Together with many
other countries, Canada has successfully pushed for the establishment of an
independent prosecutor to oversee the collection of evidence of the atrocities.
This is painstaking, difficult work, but it is necessary and important.
And then there’s the
question of how Canada can wield the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which provides for recourse to the
International Court of Justice, and of which both Myanmar and Canada are
signatories.
Any decision to
invoke the Genocide Convention has both legal and political elements. It should
come after a considered debate and focused discussion both within and outside
of the Canadian government. The government needs to create a process that will
allow a decision to be made. Meanwhile, it can encourage like-minded
governments to join them in their efforts: The Dutch parliament has recently
passed a resolution that put forward “serious suspicions of genocide," and
the member states of the Organization of Islamic Communities, led by Gambia,
are heading in the same direction.
The second is how to
build broader support in non-Rohingya communities in Cox’s Bazar and in
Rakhine, and more broadly in Bangladesh and Myanmar for the kind of economic
and social development that would break down tensions. The development banks
can play an even more important role in making this happen, and it will require
more engagement with a range of communities and political actors. There will be
no real breakthroughs unless there is a deeper political consensus in both
countries, and the international community needs to play a constructive role in
making that happen.
The Rohingya crisis
is one of many around the world, but this is not a reason to place it on the
sidelines. The Rohingya remain the largest stateless population in the world,
and addressing their plight in a more sustained way is a matter of moral obligation
as well as clear self-interest on the part of all countries. This is not the
time to step back or turn away. The work has begun – and we have much more yet
to do.
BY BOB RAE