The writer is Head, Investigative Reporting Cell, The Daily Star.
Only Myanmar can solve the longstanding crisis besetting their Muslim
minority Rohingya population. The International community should also
exert pressure forcefully on Myanmar to bring an end to the decades old
oppression on Rohingyas.
When it is beyond any doubt that a
permanent solution to the Rohingya problem rests in the hands of
Myanmar, surprisingly some international quarters are pressurising
Bangladesh to open its border for Rohingyas and arrange their safe
sheltering.
Foreign powers' efforts of making Rohingya crisis an
issue for Bangladesh seem an attempt to impose a problem on Bangladesh
which is an inherent responsibility of Myanmar.
None except the
Myanmar government created this crisis through oppression carried out
against a vulnerable minority Rohingya population.
Rohingya is a
centuries old minority Muslim population of Myanmar. But …. "stateless"
for the last several decades as Myanmar's 1982 Citizenship Act undid the
status of legally granted citizenship in 1948.
Such a condition
apparently led to state-sponsored persecutions that prompted several
hundred thousands of Rohingyas from the Rakhine state to flee to
neighbouring Bangladesh in 1978 and 1991. Bangladesh arranged temporary
shelters on both the occasions on humanitarian grounds, but the crisis
has continued. As the humanitarian aspect was the overriding factor in
extending help to the Rohingyas, political elements in it were
overlooked in Bangladesh.
In June this year, when there was
sectarian violence between the Buddhist Rakhine and Muslims in Myanmar,
the international community asked Bangladesh to open its border for the
Rohingyas instead of pressurising Myanmar to solve the problem
internally. The pressure is still on.
Last week, Robert O. Blake,
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs of
United States said that they were disappointed by Bangladesh's policy of
turning away Rohingyas fleeing ethnic and sectarian violence in Myanmar
since early June. Blake said: "The US government has and will continue
to raise concern for the well being of these individuals at the highest
levels."
Giving temporary shelter to Rohingyas in Bangladesh
cannot be a permanent solution to the problems originating in Myanmar;
rather it creates more problems in densely populated Bangladesh that has
been hosting 30,000 registered Rohingya refugees since 1991 and about
half a million illegal Rohingya immigrants.
The Rakhine state of
Myanmar, which borders Cox's Bazar, is a poverty-prone area of Myanmar.
This fact forces the Rohingyas to migrate to Bangladesh for economic
reasons. This continuous intrusion of Rohingyas has an alarming impact
on socio-economic equilibrium of Cox's Bazar, but this fact is
overlooked due to the longstanding issue of oppression on Rohingyas.
Such
a crisis creates opportunities for all sorts of political powers across
the world to use it as a tool for their own interests rather than
trying for permanent solutions to the problems.
A few days ago,
Pakistani Taliban reportedly threatened to attack Myanmar to avenge
crimes against the Muslim Rohingya if Pakistan did not sever all
relations with the Myanmar government and close its embassy in
Islamabad. Thus, it seems that the Rohingya issue is spreading beyond
national boundaries.
Bangladesh gained appreciation from the
international community and foreign powers for its humanitarian response
to the crises in 1978 and 1991. But, this time it has disappointed some
foreign players as the government is sticking to its decision of not
letting in any more Rohingya, as the ground realities don't permit more
refugees.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in an interview with a
foreign television channel, said that Bangladesh was already an
overpopulated country so it was not possible to take in any more
Rohingya.
This correspondent, while visiting Tekanf last month,
felt the dilemma -- humanity versus reality. Local Bangladeshis have
sympathies for the Rohingyas but, considering the realities, they
believe allowing more Rohingyas will add to the burden in this small
country.
This will not solve the real problem, rather it will
create further problems here and those who are concerned about the
Rohingyas should go where the problem has its roots. They think that
pressure from international community highlights their ignorance about
Bangladesh's reality.
Such pressure carries little weight because
the international community is making not making any effort to force
Myanmar to address the problems.
When there was a crisis in
Rakhine state of Myanmar following clashes between Buddhist Rakhine and
Muslim Rohingya, Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was visiting
Europe to receive her Nobel Peace Prize awarded 20 years ago.
When
there were high expectations that Suu Kyi would take a firm stand for
the persecuted Rohingyas during her Europe trip, she rather refrained
from making any statements for a permanent solution to the Rohingya
crisis in her country.
Rather, one of her comments to the press in
late June gave a hint that the lingering issue of citizenship of the
Rohingyas will continue as she said it was imperative to ascertain who
among the Rohingyas were legal citizens and who were not.
"Some of
them, I'm sure, are in accordance with the citizenship laws, entitled
to the rights of citizens, but we have to find out who they are," said
Suu Kyi at the end of her Europe tour, which doesn't give confidence to
those who believe that she can play a stronger role to solve the
Rohingya's rights problem.
"We will send them away if any third
country will accept them," Myanmar President Thein Sein said to the
chief of the United Nations refugee agency and added: "This is what we
are thinking is the solution to the issue." This makes the minority
community extremely vulnerable.
"Basically Myanmar does not
consider these 7,35,000 Muslims in northern Rakhine state to be its
citizens, and we think the solution is for them to get citizenship of
Myanmar," UNHCR's Asia spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey made this comment to a
foreign news agency immediately after the Myanmar president's alarming
remarks.
But if this remark by the Myanmar president is not
considered as the last wake up call for the international community to
ensure due recognition of Rohingyas in their country, this longstanding
crisis might never end.
Amnesty International recently called on
Myanmar's Parliament to amend or repeal the 1982 Citizenship Law to
ensure that Rohingyas were no longer stateless.
"Under
international human rights law and standards, no one may be left or
rendered stateless. For too long Myanmar's human rights record has been
marred by the continued denial of citizenship for Rohingyas and a host
of discriminatory practices against them," said Benjamin Zawacki,
Amnesty International's Myanmar researcher.
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