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Al-Arabiya
March 6, 2013
By Ramzy Baroud
One fails to understand the
unperturbed attitude with which regional and international leaders and
organizations are treating the unrelenting onslaught against Rohingya Muslims
in Myanmar, also known as Burma. Numbers speak of atrocities where every violent
act is prelude to greater violence and ethnic cleansing. Yet, Western
governments’ normalization with the Myanmar regime continues unabated, regional
leaders are as gutless as ever and even human rights organizations seem
compelled by habitual urges to issue statements lacking meaningful, decisive
and coordinated calls for action.
Meanwhile the “boat
people” remain on their own. On Feb. 26, fishermen discovered a rickety wooden
boat floating randomly at sea, nearly 25 km off the coast of Indonesia’s northern
province of Aceh. The Associated Press and other media reported there were 121
people on board including children who were extremely weak, dehydrated and
nearly starved. They were Rohingya refugees who preferred to take their chances
at sea rather than stay in Myanmar. To understand the decision of a parent to
risk his child’s life in a tumultuous sea would require understanding of the
greater risks awaiting them at home.
Who are the Rohingyas?
Reporting for Voice of America
from Jakarta, Kate Lamb cited a moderate estimate of the outcome of communal
violence in the Arakan state, which left hundreds of Rohingya Muslims dead,
thousands of homes burned and nearly 115,000 displaced. The number is likely to
be higher at all fronts. Many fleeing Rohingya perished at sea or disappeared
to be never seen again. Harrowing stories are told and reported of families
separating and boats sinking. There are documented events in which various
regional navies and border police sent back refugees after they successfully
braved the deadly journey to other countries — Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh
and elsewhere. The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) reported that nearly 13,000
Rohingya refugees attempted to leave Myanmar on smugglers’ boats in the Bay of
Bengal in 2012. At least 500 of them drowned.
Who are the Rohingyas? Myanmar
officials and media wish to simply see the Rohingyas as ‘illegal Bengali
immigrants,’ a credulous reading of history at best. The intentions of this
inaccurate classification, however, are truly sinister for it is meant to
provide a legal clearance to forcefully deport the Rohingya population. Myanmar
President Then Sein had in fact made an ‘offer’ to the U.N. last year that he
was willing to send the Rohingya people “to any other country willing to accept
them.” The U.N. declined.
Rohingya Muslims, however, are
native to the state of “Rohang,” officially known as Rakhine or Arakan. If one
is to seek historical accuracy, not only are the Rohingya people native to
Myanmar, it was in fact Burma that occupied Rakhine in the 1700s. Over the
years, especially in the first half of the 20th century, the original
inhabitants of Arakan were joined by cheap or forced labor from Bengal and
India, who permanently settled there. For decades, tension brewed between
Buddhists and Muslims in the region. Naturally, a majority backed by a military
junta is likely to prevail over a minority without any serious regional or
international backers. Without much balance of power to be mentioned, the
Rohingya population of Arakan, estimated at nearly 800,000, subsisted between
the nightmare of having no legal status (as they are still denied citizenship),
little or no rights, and the occasional ethnic purges carried out by their
Buddhist neighbors with the support of their government, army and police. The
worst of such violence in recent years took place between June and October of
last year. Buddhists also paid a heavy price for the clashes, but the stateless
Rohingyas, being isolated and defenseless, were the ones to carry the heaviest
death toll and destruction.
And just when "calm" is
reported — as in returning to the status quo of utter discrimination and
political alienation of the Rohingyas — violence erupts once more, and every
time the diameters of the conflict grow bigger. In late February, an angry
Buddhist mob attacked non-Rohingya Muslim schools, shops and homes in the
capital Rangoon, regional and international media reported. The cause of the
violence was a rumor that the Muslim community is planning to build a mosque.
World’s most persecuted people
What is taking place in Arakan is
most dangerous, not only because of the magnitude of the atrocities and the
perpetual suffering of the Rohingya people, which are often described as the
world’s most persecuted people. Other layers of danger also exist that threaten
to widen the parameters of the conflict throughout the Southeast Asia region,
bringing instability to already unstable border areas, and, of course, as was
the case recently, take the conflict from an ethnic one to a purely religious
one. In a region of a unique mix of ethnicities and religions, the plight of
the Rohingyas could become the trigger that would set already fractious parts
of the region ablaze.
Although the plight of the
Rohingya people have in recent months crossed the line from the terrible, but
hidden tragedy into a recurring media topic, it is still facing many hurdles
that must be overcome in order for some action to be taken. While the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been making major economic
leaps forward, it remains politically ineffective, with little interest in
issues pertaining to human rights. Under the guise of its commitment to
"non-interference" and disproportionate attention to the festering
territorial disputes in the South China Sea, ASEAN seems unaware that the
Rohingya people even exist. Worst, ASEAN leaders were reportedly in agreement
that Myanmar should chair their 2014 summit, as a reward for superficial
reforms undertaken by Rangoon to ease its political isolation and open up its
market beyond China and few other countries.
Meanwhile, Western countries, led
by the United States are clamoring to divide the large Myanmar economic cake
amongst themselves, and are saying next to nothing about the current human
rights records of Rangoon. The minor democratic reforms in Myanmar seem, after
all, a pretext to allow the country back to Western arms. And the race to
Rangoon has indeed begun, unhindered by the continued persecution of the
Rohingya people. On Feb. 26, Myanmar's President Sein met in Oslo with Norway's
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in a "landmark" visit.
They spoke economy, of course,
for Myanmar has plenty to offer. And regarding the conflict in Arakan, Jens
Stoltenberg unambiguously declared it to be an internal Burmese affair, reducing
it to most belittling statements. In regards to ‘disagreements’ over
citizenship, he said, “We have encouraged dialogue, but we will not demand that
Burma’s government give citizenship to the Rohingyas.” Moreover, to reward Sein
for his supposedly bold democratic reforms, Norway took the lead by waving off
nearly half of its debt and other countries followed suit, including Japan
which dropped $ 3 billion last year.
Official hypocrisy
While one is used for official
hypocrisy, whether by ASEAN or Western governments, many are still scratching
their heads over the unforgivable silence of democracy advocate and Noble Peace
Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. Luckily, others are speaking out.
Bangladesh's Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, along with former Timor-Leste
President Ramos-Horta had both recently spoke with decisive terms in support of
the persecuted Rohingya people.
“The minority Muslim Rohingyas
continue to suffer unspeakable persecution, with more than 1,000 killed and
hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes just in recent months,
apparently with the complicity and protection of security forces,” the Nobel
laureates wrote in the Huffington Post on Feb. 20. They criticized the
prejudicial Citizenship Law of 1982 and called for granting the Rohingya people
full citizenship.
The perpetual suffering of the
Rohingya people must end. They deserve that they be given their due rights and
dignity. They are weary of crossing unforgiving seas and walking harsh terrains
seeking mere survival. More voices must join those who are speaking out in
support of their rights. ASEAN must break away from its silence and tediously
guarded policies and Western countries must be confronted by their own civil
societies: No normalization with Rangoon when innocent men, women and children
are being burned alive in their own homes. This injustice needs to be known to
the world and serious, organized and determined efforts must follow to bring
the persecution of the Rohingya people to an end.
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