A ROHINGYA child in no-man’s land was wounded when Border Guard Police (BGP) of Myanmar once again opened fire from its territory along the Tambru border in Bandarban’s Naikhyangchhari upazila on Thursday. Now it has become difficult to gauge what is Myanmar’s true intention about the persecuted and forcibly driven out Muslim minority. Till now it is not ashamed to shoot even little children.
On one hand the future of the repatriation process is yet uncertain, while on the other last Thursday’s shooting confirms Myanmar hasn’t changed its antagonistic mindset towards the Rohingyas. The injured eleven-year old boy is now undergoing treatment at a hospital in Cox’s Bazar.
Our point, however, is that even had the juvenile travelled into the no-man’s land there were other options to deter his advancement further. He could have been warned by a mike, the BGP could have sent a signal or use the help of a siren, but why did they resort to shooting?
The incident will trigger scepticism and fear among the Rohingyas residing in Bangladesh. Moreover, most of them would not want to return voluntarily fearing to be shot anytime and anywhere. And on the topic of granting full citizenship rights to Rohingyas – a senior Myanmar official has told Western diplomats that a proposal to review a citizenship law that effectively renders most Rohingya Muslims stateless could not be implemented. Now the country is playing its citizenship card to delay and deny rights.
Anyone would agree, Myanmar is trying to prove that the mass exodus triggered by military crackdowns following had nothing to do with the refugees’ citizenship and so their repatriation shouldn’t be impacted by a fixation on the issue-a position that’s not only fundamentally wrong but will have a profound impact on the future of the repatriation talks.
Since the UN and the international community are jointly dealing with Myanmar officials, our plea to them is not to compromise on the citizenship issue, and tell Myanmar to stop shooting at the refugees on the other side of its borders.
As of now, we only see a dark uncertain future of the more than a million lives.
On one hand the future of the repatriation process is yet uncertain, while on the other last Thursday’s shooting confirms Myanmar hasn’t changed its antagonistic mindset towards the Rohingyas. The injured eleven-year old boy is now undergoing treatment at a hospital in Cox’s Bazar.
Our point, however, is that even had the juvenile travelled into the no-man’s land there were other options to deter his advancement further. He could have been warned by a mike, the BGP could have sent a signal or use the help of a siren, but why did they resort to shooting?
The incident will trigger scepticism and fear among the Rohingyas residing in Bangladesh. Moreover, most of them would not want to return voluntarily fearing to be shot anytime and anywhere. And on the topic of granting full citizenship rights to Rohingyas – a senior Myanmar official has told Western diplomats that a proposal to review a citizenship law that effectively renders most Rohingya Muslims stateless could not be implemented. Now the country is playing its citizenship card to delay and deny rights.
Anyone would agree, Myanmar is trying to prove that the mass exodus triggered by military crackdowns following had nothing to do with the refugees’ citizenship and so their repatriation shouldn’t be impacted by a fixation on the issue-a position that’s not only fundamentally wrong but will have a profound impact on the future of the repatriation talks.
Since the UN and the international community are jointly dealing with Myanmar officials, our plea to them is not to compromise on the citizenship issue, and tell Myanmar to stop shooting at the refugees on the other side of its borders.
As of now, we only see a dark uncertain future of the more than a million lives.
