Since no media is
allowed in the troubled zone, there's no way knowing whether those
sent back by us are safe. Perhaps, Bangladesh's stern approach has
gone down well with the Myanmar authorities. For once, we could bite
the bullet and let them float into the elements of nature, or shove
them into the tunnel of uncertainty.
Clearly, all this
is a palliative, and not a cure of the disease. Because the
fundamental issue of statelessness of the Muslim minority in the
Rakhaine state of Myanmar remains intact. Persecution and ethnic
cleansing of varying intensity follow from this non-existent status
of not even second class citizens.
So long as this
seminal question of nationality is not resolved, Rohingyas in
boatloads or trickles would keep coming in through the 200km long
porous border between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Thus, we find in
the UNHCR's version, eight unregistered Rohingya refugees to every
registered one. In contrast, government's ratio between listed and
unlisted refugees stands at 15 to 1. This demographic pressure on an
already densely populated part of Bangladesh is headed for
snowballing with severe repercussions in the horizon.
One reputed
international observer Derek Tonkin's position on this fallacy is
unassailable: "The statelessness of the Rohingya is a breach of
Article 15(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which
provides that: 'Everyone has the right to a nationality'."
When a country is
at the receiving end of fallout from either a willful persecution of
the Rohingyas by the military as in 1978 and 1991 and internal ethnic
violence as erupted lately, it has to defend its national interest.
Bangladesh has every right to address the problem bilaterally, and if
necessary, internationally. But a hands-on role is missing.
What is difficult
to understand is Bangladesh government treating the latest dimension
to the Rohingya question in a way that it can make all the difference
between good and bad bilateral relations. Why must this be so; an
issue has arisen and it must be dealt with, first compassionately and
then by taking it up at the government-to-government level in a no
nonsense manner.
Now, why have a
short memory? In both times that the spates in Rohingya exodus were
triggered by military operations in Myanmar, we arranged repatriation
of the refugees by engaging the military authorities, post-1978 and
1991. We could work out a solution, incomplete that it might have
been, albeit under the auspices of the UNHCR. Why then the latest
upshot of ethnic raw nerves centering around a criminal act but
allowed to proliferate as a religious-ethnic reprisal by the majority
community under military watch should be handled like "glass
with care" approach? By accident, if you like, the core issue
has come to the fore, through a haemorrhage though. And if the wound
is 'band-aided' now, it would bleed again.
In a sense, the
international community is also playing kid glove with Myanmar
authorities. The West is supersensitive to the cause of consolidating
the pro-democracy and open economy gains and advancing the freedom
and leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi to complete the process of
Myanmar's opening to the world. So, why rock the boat?
Suu Kyi's appeal to
reason, her sagacity, and persistent theme of reconciliation have
inspired analogies with Nelson Mandela. This is something to draw on.
One of the first Suu Kyi statements on her release from house arrest
had been to call for speedy resolution of ethnic minority issues. We
are looking to her to take a conscientious role in resolving the
"nationality" issue of the Rohingyas. We are heartened by
her expression of concern over "the handling of the situation by
local Rakhaine authorities, in particular their failure to dampen
anti-Muslim sentiment. Suu also calls on Buddhists to 'have sympathy
for minorities'." (Xinhua)
Suu Kyi's growing
international image is of value to the military who still retain the
levers of power but understands the efficacy of withdrawal of
sanctions on and investment in Myanmar. Pragmatism suggests they
should swim with the current.
The two foregoing
factors taken together, condition in Myanmar couldn't have been
potentially more conducive than it is today towards settling all the
ethnic minority issues that bristle the Myanmar body-politic.
There is a third
element that the Myanmar government needs to consider to reshape its
policy towards the Rohingyas. Ethnic groups like the Karen and Kachin
are "insurrectionist" espousing the aspirations of small
nations. While attempts are made to assimilate them into the Myanmar
society, why should the innocent, armless Rohingyas be left behind?
The writer is
Associate Editor, The Daily Star.
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