A MINISTER of Myanmar’s State Counsellor Office, U Kyaw Tint Swe, is currently leading talks with Bangladesh, led by our Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali. As we all know, the Myanmar delegation’s attempt for starting the dialogue comes in the wake of more than a half a million Refugees being forced to take shelter in Bangladesh because of intensifying persecution carried out by the country’s military there.
What needs a clear understanding in this regard is – it is not about any unresolved issue between the two countries; it is a manmade humanitarian crisis which has sprung up in Myanmar. Therefore, the source, the oppressors and the oppressed are all in that country. Bangladesh is only being forced to shelter the Rohingyas because of its geographical border being shared with Myanmar.
For instance, when Bangladesh needed to resolve the unresolved sea territory issue with Myanmar, it was forced to take the country to the international courts in Hague and get it resolved through a landmark verdict in 2014. It was purely a bilateral issue then, but the continuing Rohingya crisis by no way involves Bangladesh for which it is now bearing the brunt by giving shelter to hundreds of thousands of refugees.
Since the international community and the UNSC members have attempted to resolve the crisis within their capacities, which has no connection with Bangladesh, the Myanmar government should exclusively deal with the UN and the International Community on how the country plans to put an end to the crisis while taking its refugees back and repatriate them.
We are more than sceptic about the outcome of the ongoing discussion between our Foreign office high-ups and the Myanmar Minister. There is also a risk involved for engaging in bilateral talks, since the international community is now engaged in addressing the crisis. Myanmar government can well try to evade humanitarian obligations and aim to settle the issue by following adhoc measures, meaning – temporarily it may take a few thousand refugees and give a clear ‘diplomatic eye-wash’ to the rest of the world. The apparent fear is that, the country can divert international attention and somewhat convince the UN to tackle the issue by taking full advantage of our weak and naive diplomacy. Myanmar past record is not reliable.
At par with the UN Secretary General’s three major conditions – Myanmar must allow UN observers to enter the Rakihne state for monitoring the progress. Hold frequent dialogues with the key members of the UN and the International Community other than indulge in fruitless time wasting measures.
That said — Myanmar should focus to ensure safe and quick repatriation of Rohingyas, stop the ongoing military persecution and grant unimpeded access to all aid relief. There is no room for Bangladesh to play any role in the realisation of any of these three UN obligations.
We should refrain from engaging bilaterally with Myanmar — at least on the topic of the Rohingya crisis.
