SATELLITE images have captured continued destruction of residential buildings in Rakhine State since 2017, raising serious questions about Myanmar’s willingness to repatriate tens of thousands of Rohingyas, who fled to Bangladesh following a brutal military-led crackdown. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute in a report released late on Tuesday said while Myanmar authorities have repeatedly promised to resettle the refugees, analysis of satellite imagery shows “no sign of reconstruction” in the overwhelming majority of their former settlements while, in some areas, destruction of residential buildings has continued. More than 700,000 Rohingyas were forced to flee northern Rakhine State in western Myanmar during a 2017 military-led crackdown. The United Nations has termed mass killings and gang-rapes as the text-book examples. Almost 400 Rohingya villages were burned to the ground during the violence.
One of the researchers at ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Centre, said in a statement: “The continued destruction of residential areas across 2018 and 2019 – clearly identifiable through our longitudinal satellite analysis – raises serious questions about the willingness of the Myanmar government to facilitate a safe and dignified repatriation process.” What’s interesting is that spokesmen for the Myanmar government did not answer calls seeking comment. Kyaw Swar Tun, deputy director of the Rakhine General Administration Department, declined to comment. Myanmar has repeatedly said it is ready to take back refugees, blaming Bangladesh for failed efforts to kick-start returns. But the world knows, it’s a damn lie.
Despite repeated sincere initiatives by Dhaka, Myanmar has been playing a hide and seek game in fulfilling its promise to take back its nationals staying in Bangladesh. Both the countries have signed an agreement over repatriation of Rohingya refugees. Over 1.2 million documented and undocumented Myanmar nationals are staying in the camps of Cox’s Bazar and its surrounding areas. At present, it becomes very hard for Bangladesh to bear the expenditures of a huge number of foreign nationals.
But time is flying fast. And the Rohingya crisis is deepening day by day. Dhaka must not waste a single moment and make quicker its diplomatic efforts to involve its trusted foreign friends in a bid to create pressure on Myanmar. Myanmar should understand that it has no other alternative but to take back its nationals, today or tomorrow.
