Safe solidarity

The ongoing campaign of forced deportations and systematic brutalities against the Rohingya population has reached a point where few in the international community are willing to defend the Myanmar government. The UN human rights chief called it a textbook example of ethnic cleansing while the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation unanimously condemned the Myanmar government and called on it to permit international monitors. Even the Dalai Lama, who has been reluctant to speak out against the Buddhist-dominated Myanmar government, has said that the Buddha would have helped the Rohingya Muslims. Yet, even with international condemnation pouring in, the Rohingya population still seems as isolated as ever. The OIC, which has hardly been a shining light for the freedom of repressed people, may have taken the easy step of castigating the government in Myanmar but stopped short of any concrete action. It could have passed a resolution calling on fellow member Bangladesh to accept and take care of the tens of thousands of refugees escaping into the country. It could also have pledged aid to ensure the refugees are looked after till the situation can be resolved. The truth is that everyone is quick to express solidarity with the Rohingya but few are willing to step up and offer real help.

The situation isn’t helped by the support the Myanmar government has received from India – the most powerful country in the region. Last week, Narendra Modi visited Myanmar and told his counterpart Aung San Suu Kyi that the two countries share similar security interests and that he was worried about “extremist violence” in the Rakhine state where the Rohingya live. This smear of the Rohingya population as terrorists echoes Suu Kyi’s own shameful justification of the treatment meted out to the minority population. Modi has also announced plans to expel the 40,000 Rohingya refugees in India, which will only put a greater strain on Bangladesh. The government in Bangladesh is hardly covering itself in glory either. It refugees to register the refugees and in the past has blamed the Rohingya population, stuck in makeshift camps, for violence in the country. In 2015, the Bangladesh government even went so far as to draw up a plan to herd all the refugees into a remote island on the Bay of Bengal. The plan was only shelved after an outcry from human rights groups. Right now, it seems the only support the Rohingya population is receiving is from those who can safely decry their treatment but are in no position to offer help while those who can aid them do not want to do so. The end result is effectively collusion in one of the worst human rights abuses of recent times.