SUPPORT OF WORLD LEADERS NOT ENOUGH
The only way to force recalcitrant Myanmar to end the ethnic cleansing is for the world to impose economic sanctions, write NAIMUL HAQ and A.S.M. SUZA UDDIN
DESPITE having the strong support of influential global leaders, Bangladesh has “missed” the opportunity to mobilise the world’s superpowers and place pressure on Myanmar to allow for the repatriation of the Rohingya refugees.
Experts specialising in international affairs expressed their disappointment that despite the recent joint visit by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and World Bank group president Jim Yong Kim, the world’s biggest refugee crisis remains unresolved.
“No single event of such magnitude ever drew so much global attention and solidarity, not even the ethnic cleansing in the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina where tens of thousands of Muslims were killed in conflicts among the three main ethnic groups,” Professor Tareq Shamsur Rehman, who teaches International Relations at Jahangirnagar University, says.
Since the influx of over 700,000 Rohingya refugees from August last year, leaders from around the world have visited Bangladesh, travelling to the coastal Cox’s Bazar district where the refugee camps are.
The World Bank announced almost half a billion dollars (RM2 billion) in grant-based support to Bangladesh for health, education, sanitation, disaster preparedness and other services for the refugees until they can return home safely, voluntarily and with dignity.
But the aid may have come too late. In Bangladesh, some 63 million of the country’s 160 million people live below the poverty line. The influx of over one million refugees has impacted not only the country’s monetary resources, but also natural resources. The environmental impact is significant as more than a million refugees are now cramped in hilly terrains of Ukhiya in southeastern regions of Cox’s Bazar along Bangladesh’s border with Myanmar. Trees on over 8.09ha of land near the camps are being cut down daily for firewood for cooking.
“The solution to the Rohingya crisis is possible if two-way pressure on Myanmar is possible. The way the US imposed sanctions on North Korea, like preventing remittance and imposing economic sanctions, it has really had the desired impact,” Mohammad Zamir, a former ambassador and international relations analyst, says.
“If the world imposes a similar ban on Myanmar that there will be no foreign investment in Myanmar, I think they would then be under tremendous pressure and may bow to the demands to repatriate the Rohingya refugees. If the world adopts these preventive measures on Myanmar, then there will be a possibility to solve the Rohingya problem.”
Mohammad Mohibullah, a spokesperson for the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, says that while they welcomed the visit of UN and World Bank chiefs, “the money they pledged is for our survival and not for resolving our crisis”.
In January, the Myanmar government agreed with Bangladesh to take back Rohingya refugees. However, weeks after the agreement they allowed only about 50 families, mostly comprising Hindus, to return. Then the so-called repatriation process stopped after Myanmar demanded that a joint Bangladesh/Myanmar team first identify the Rohingya as their citizens.
The UN and other international agencies have previously been denied access to Rakhine State to assess the conditions for returning refugees.
However, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi was allowed entry in May. Then in June the Myanmar government signed an agreement with the UN Refugee Agency and UN Development Programme as a first step in setting up a framework for the return of the refugees. But the process is slow.
Experts have pointed out the “misreading in diplomacy” by Bangladesh towards resolving the Rohingya crisis has resulted in the current deadlock.
“Instead of using influential powers like China and Russia, Bangladesh engaged itself in bilateral negotiation, which is a stalemate.
“They (Myanmar) have clearly demonstrated defiance once again. For instance, every demand we put forward, like the demand for fixing the start of repatriation date, Myanmar instead of complying with the bilateral agreement insisted on verifying their citizens — a tactic used to delay the process and ultimately enforce deadlock,” professor Delware Hossain from the International Relations Department at the University of Dhaka says.
“What we really need is lobbying with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council who have the power to impose economic, military and political sanctions. It is sad though that until now we have not seen our foreign ministers visiting Moscow, Beijing, London and Paris in mobilising them to act in favour of Bangladesh,” Rehman said, adding that in other international cases of genocide, military leaders have been identified, tried and punished because of the strong commitment and involvement of leading nations.
Others argue that despite such powerful political support, even from the US, Myanmar remains unmoved continuing its mission of ethnic cleansing.
Human rights organisation, Fortify Rights, stated in a report released on July 19 that the lack of action by the international community against the 2016 attacks against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State allowed Myanmar to proceed with genocide.
The report is based on over 250 interviews conducted over two years with eyewitnesses, survivors of attacks, and Myanmar military and police sources, among others.
“The international community failed to act after the Myanmar Army killed, raped, tortured, and forcibly displaced Rohingya civilians in October and November 2016.
That inaction effectively paved the way for genocide, providing the Myanmar authorities with an enabling environment to make deeper preparations for more mass atrocity crimes,” the report stated.
Experts specialising in international affairs expressed their disappointment that despite the recent joint visit by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and World Bank group president Jim Yong Kim, the world’s biggest refugee crisis remains unresolved.