The horrible drama of ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar government continues in the Rakhine State. Since August 31 Bangladesh coast guards have found the bodies of more than 60 people, mostly women and children who drowned fleeing Myanmar. They were trying to escape a recent surge of violence in "rickety inland fishing boats" poorly equipped for the rough seas around the south-eastern coastline of Bangladesh. More than 700 Rohingyas - Muslims and Hindus --according to sources inside Myanmar, have reportedly also died inside the Rakhine state.
The recent crisis erupted after Rohingya rebels attacked 30 police stations on August 25. A group called the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) claimed that it had carried out the attacks. These attacks, condemned by USA, France, UK and India, triggered a military crackdown that has led to widespread killings, rape and torture of Rohingya. In recent days, nearly 290,000 Rohingya have fled the violence to Bangladesh from Myanmar. Thousands more are thought to be trapped in an unoccupied zone between the countries. This time, for the first time, the refugees include persecuted members from the Hindu and the Christian communities.
The situation has been further compounded by Myanmar laying landmines across a section of its border with Bangladesh for the past three days to prevent the return of Rohingyas fleeing the violence into Bangladesh. The relevant Bangladesh authorities have already initiated steps for formally lodging a protest against the laying of landmines so close to the border,
The equation has become even more difficult because the United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP) has suspended aid work in Myanmar's Rakhine State citing safety concerns. The suspension of food assistance operations would affect 250,000 internally displaced and "other most vulnerable populations". Of that number, around 120,000 people - most of them Rohingya Muslim civilians - have relied on aid hand-outs in camps since 2012, when religious riots killed scores and sparked a crisis which is again burning through the state.
Earlier, on August 29, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that satellite data accessed by the rights body had revealed widespread fires burning in at least 10 areas in Myanmar's Rakhine state. Residents and activists of these areas have accused soldiers of shooting indiscriminately at unarmed Rohingya men, women and children and carrying out these arson attacks. Myanmar authorities have, on the other hand, reported that Rohingya "extremist terrorists" have been setting these fires during fighting with government troops. Rohingya Muslims have however accused Myanmar soldiers of carrying out extrajudicial killings asv well as of arson. HRW has claimed that they could not obtain any comments on this issue from any government spokesperson.
It may be recalled that Rakhine, the poorest region in Myanmar, is home to more than a million Rohingya Muslims who have faced decades of persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they are not considered citizens. There have been waves of deadly violence in recent years. The current upsurge has been the most significant since October 2016 when about 87,000 refugees entered Bangladesh following the military crackdown at that time.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) has noted that Myanmar intelligence agencies over the last few days have cleverly moved from using the term "extremist Bengali terrorists" to drawing an Islamic terrorist connotation. Expatriate members of the Rohingya community living in Britain have however indicated that they have no links to jihadi groups and all that they want is - equality before the law, freedom to live in peace, freedom to move about so that they can work, earn a living and feed their children. They also want to be recognised as citizens who belong to Myanmar, and not to Bangladesh.
KOFI ANNAN COMMISSION: This latest round of violence has come just days after an international commission, led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, submitted a report on August 24 to the Myanmar authorities. The Rakhine Commission was formed by Annan last year to look into ethnic reconciliation and improving the state's welfare, at the request of Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The report has stressed that different religious communities in Rakhine were scared of each other and that segregation caused by the violence had made things worse. In this context it has affirmed that "unless current challenges are addressed promptly, further radicalisation within both communities is a real risk." It has also underlined that "what is needed is a calibrated approach - one that combines political, developmental, security and human rights responses to ensure that violence does not escalate and inter-communal tensions are kept under control." It also urged the government to increase investment in the Rakhine province to help alleviate poverty, and recommended restrictions on freedom of movement be ended. It may be recalled that currently Rohingya Muslims displaced by the violence are effectively confined in camps.
Annan has also recommended reviewing the citizenship law (promulgated in 1982) which currently does not recognise Rohingyas as Myanmar citizens. This, the report noted, had marginalised and deprived them of political influence, causing frustration.
Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, consistent with the anxiety expressed by Kofi Annan, has condemned the coordinated attacks of August 25 by radical Rohingya Muslims on security forces but has also noted that the Myanmar political leadership had a duty to protect all civilians "without discrimination".
Pope Francis, who is expected to visit Bangladesh towards the end of November, has issued an important statement about the persecution of "our Rohingya brothers" and reiterated that they "be given their full rights."
This was particularly welcome after Aung San Suu Kyi blamed "terrorists" for "a huge iceberg of misinformation" on the violence in Rakhine state but made no mention of the nearly 250,000 Rohingya Muslims (up to that time) who have fled over the border to Bangladesh since August 25.
In a goodwill gesture, Thai Prime Minister on August 29 has said that his country was preparing to receive various displaced people... and send them back when they are ready."
The last section of the Thai comment is interesting because unlike the existing situation in Bangladesh it is foreseeing repatriating the refugees to Myanmar. On the other hand, Bangladesh continues to be saddled with more than 400,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees who have stayed on for decades, with most of them having taken steps to integrate with the host community.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI CRITICISED: Some analysts have been critical about Aung San Suu Kyi not living up to expectations with regard to changing policies and attitudes of Myanmar government towards the Rohingyas. They have pointed out that despite the establishment in March this year of the investigation process by the UN into possible crimes against humanity committed by the Myanmar military against the Rohingyas, and war crimes against other ethnic groups, no pressure has been evidently put on the armed forces or on Min Aung Hlaing, a significant figure within the Myanmar military establishment. In fact, the opposite appears to have happened. This is partially because international companies, despite existing strictures on supplying arms, are trying to provide the Myanmar military with equipment.
RESPONSIBILITY OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY: The international community needs to understand that Bangladesh has taken in more refugees than it can afford to do. It is time that the neighbours and the rest of the world, particularly members of the UN Security Council, exerted their influence on Myanmar so that it discontinues its discriminatory policies. Let them, in the coming session of the UN General Assembly, starting from this September, seek a way out through the Kofi Annan report and adopt required measures to contain the crisis. It is time that they lived up to their own expectations related to the observance of human rights. This is required to stop this growing cycle of violence and ethnic cleansing.
They need to understand the implications of the views expressed on September 01 by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and take serious steps in this context. Guterres has warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe after figures emerged that nearly 400 people had already been killed - mostly Rohingya Muslims. He has expressed his "deep concern regarding reports of excesses during the security operations conducted by Myanmar's security forces in Rakhine State" and urged restraint and calm to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. Anxiety on the part of Guterres has been shared by the Presidents of Turkey and Indonesia, the Foreign Ministers of Iran and Malaysia and the government of Maldives. In addition, the Foreign Minister of Indonesia we have had a visited both Myanmar and Bangladesh. Unfortunately, China, Russia and India have not come forward and firmly stressed on the need for Myanmar not only to uphold human rights but also refrain from exacerbating the on-going humanitarian crisis. That is also true of some countries within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) framework.
One needs to conclude by referring to Nobel Peace laureates, Desmond Tutu, Professor Muhammad Yunus and Malala Yousaf Zai, who have called on Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate herself, to stop the "tragic and shameful treatment" of Myanmar's Rohingya population. Yunus, in an open letter to the UN Security Council President has asked that the Security Council should intervene and take decisive measures to stop this human tragedy, crimes against humanity and persuade the Myanmar government to implement the recommendations of the Kofi Annan Commission.
In this context, the Bangladesh government has called upon the Myanmar government to end their policy of genocide. Measures are also being taken to garner international support and finance to assist Bangladesh in being able to meet the humanitarian needs of the persecuted Rohingya refugees. Necessary dynamics have been initiated to complete registration through bio-metrics of the incoming refugees. This would be required to facilitate their eventual repatriation to Myanmar. In the meantime, it has been announced that the government will allocate 2,000 acres of land for building a temporary camp for the Rohingya refugees. Dhaka is trying its best and needs the world by its side.
The writer, a former Ambassador and Chief Information Commissioner of the Information Commission, is an analyst specialised in foreign affairs, right to information and good governance.
