Return of the ROHINGYA?

With no homes to go back to, refugees question deal struck between Myanmar, Bangladesh

Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement on Thursday that would allow hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to go home — but there were no details on when they could go back or to what they would return.

Myanmar has faced international condemnation for the “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya Muslims, forcing them to flee their homes in Rakhine state and escape to camps in Bangladesh.

“They burned our houses, they took our land and cows — will they give us these things back?” asked Abdul Hamid, a Rohingya at a refugee camp in Bangladesh.

With no homes to return to, there are fears the Rohingya could be forced into other camps in Myanmar and face persecution.

“It sounds to me like they’re talking about camps, and concentration camps and things of that kind,” said former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy, chair of the Canadianbased World Refugee Council.

Myanmar announced the agreement but provided few details on how many Rohingya refugees would be allowed to return home. Bangladesh said the repatriations would begin within two months.

Myanmar said the pact would follow a formula set in a 1992 repatriation agreement between the two nations after an earlier outbreak of violence. Under that deal, Rohingya were required to present residency documents, which few have, before returning home.

Human rights advocates responded with skepticism to the deal, with Amnesty International denouncing it as “simply unthinkable”.

More than 620,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when the army began what it called “clearance operations” following an attack on police posts by a group of Rohingya insurgents. Refugees arriving in Bangladesh said their homes were set on fire by soldiers and Buddhist mobs, some reported being shot at by security forces, and women have been raped.

Rohingya Muslims have faced state-supported discrimination in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar for decades. Though members of the minority first arrived generations ago, Rohingya were stripped of citizenship in 1982, denying them rights and rendering them stateless. They cannot travel freely, practise their religion, or work as teachers or doctors, and have little access to medical care, food or education.

“I’m not happy at all. First, I need to know if they are going to accept us with the Rohingya identity,” said Sayed Alom, also from a Bangladesh refugee camp.

The U.S. on Wednesday declared the violence against Rohingya to be “ethnic cleansing,” and threatened penalties for Myanmar military officers. “After a careful and thorough analysis of available facts, it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya,” said Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson, adding those who perpetrated the atrocities “must be held accountable”

Axworthy repeated the call to clip the wings of the military elite with targeted UN travel sanctions. “We’re talking about targeting specific people, particularly in the military,” said Axworthy. “A lot of these guys like to fly off to Bangkok and get a new suit or something. I’m not being facetious. A restricted-travel sanction would be very effective for a lot of the elites in Myanmar.”

Axworthy, a Liberal foreign affairs minister under Jean Chrétien, called on Canada to lead a push for sanctions through its diplomats at the UN and in missions across Asia.

The current Liberal government, which has dispatched special envoy Bob Rae and International Development Minister MarieClaude Bibeau to the region, suggested Thursday it was open to the idea.

“We continue to consider all options at our disposal to press Myanmar on this issue, including potential sanctions,” said Adam Austen, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. “The responsibility for ending the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar falls squarely on that country’s military leadership and its civilian government — these are crimes against humanity.”

Austen said Canada is trying to learn more about the proposed agreement “to ensure that it is in good faith, feasible, and, most importantly, that refugees will not face further persecution upon their return.”

Canada will spend $35 million over five years to help Bangladesh address the needs of women and girls as the country deals with a massive influx of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.

Bibeau announced the new spending — to be directed through UN agencies — on Thursday from Bangladesh, where she was getting a first-hand look at the crisis.

Bibeau visited women and children in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, currently the epicentre of the world’s most pressing humanitarian crisis.

“We all agree that it’s ethnic cleansing and the action that has been taken by the military is just not acceptable,” Bibeau said Thursday in a conference call with reporters from Bangladesh.

Amnesty International said Tuesday the discrimination against Rohingya has worsened in the last five years, and amounts to “dehumanizing apartheid.”

“There can be no safe or dignified returns of Rohingya to Myanmar while a system of apartheid remains in the country, and thousands are held there in conditions that amount to concentration camps. Returns in the current climate are simply unthinkable,” director for refugee and migrant rights, Charmain Mohamed, said Thursday.