It’s been almost five years since the Myanmar military carried out horrific persecution against the Rohingyas, forcing around a million of them to flee to Bangladesh in search of safety. Since their exodus, there is no sign of repatriation on the horizon. And as long as the military junta continues to rule, there is hardly any scope for repatriation. But for a country like ours, hosting so many Rohingya refugees for an indefinite period has become a great challenge indeed.
During the last five years, despite making repeated promises to take the Rohingyas back, Myanmar did not create a favourable condition for the return of the displaced Rohingyas. Two attempts to begin the repatriation were unsuccessful in November 2018 and August 2019 due to the failure of Myanmar to create a condition in which the Rohingyas could put their trust. These attempts failed as they demanded that safety, security, and citizenship be made preconditions for repatriation, which Myanmar did not clarify.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his recent visit here, has assured Bangladesh that China would facilitate the Rohingya repatriation to the Rakhine State, where they had already constructed 300 houses and offered to provide food for them for three to four months when they return.
On the other hand, the recently visited United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that she had seen ‘hopes’ in the eyes of the young Rohingya communities for their return to their homeland and she also wants a dignified and sustainable repatriation.
Mentionable that on August 25, 2017, the Myanmar junta, aided by local Buddhist mobs, began a genocidal crackdown on Rohingyas in Rakhine State, forcing at least 740,000 of them to cross the border into Cox’s Bazar to save their lives. The United Nations high commissioner for human rights has described the Myanmar military assault as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.
Influential countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and European Union have confined their activities to issuing statements and imposing some targeted sanctions while ASEAN, China, Russia and India did not do anything at all to resolve the crisis with regional and global consequences. For instance, when China and Russia supported Myanmar on a United Nations General Assembly resolution on human rights violations against the Rohingya on December 31, 2020, surprisingly, India abstained from the vote. China and India are Myanmar’s development partners. In the current political situation in Myanmar, Russia is a major weapons supplier to Myanmar while China is its number one investor. Both are UN Security Council veto-wielding powers.
There are indications that the Biden administration gives importance to human rights in the international arena. The Rohingya problem basically is a horrendous violation of human rights. We should make an effort so that the Biden administration grasps the Rohingya issue into consideration and takes due punitive measures against Myanmar and those who run the State.
