Unwanted

Half a million Rohingya have fled Myanmar to save their lives, but there are few countries ready to take up their plight seriously. There has been a case made for the deployment of UN peacekeeping troops in the region just like they were deployed during the Bosnia genocide for at least three years but the option has yet to be put on the table. If anything, there are reports that the UN has suppressed reports on the Rohingya crisis, including one on the dire food crisis in the Rakhine region. This is despite the fact that the UN has declared the current military offensive in the Rakhine state to be a ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing.’ The plight of the Rohingya people is a moment of shame for the international community, which has stood by and watched as blood has been shed with impunity. Moralising from the UK and US only came once the crisis became out of control but this is the story of our times. Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia are among the many countries where intervention to restore peace has been delayed until the situation has gone out of control. The news has only been more disturbing. Bangladesh has signed an agreement with Myanmar on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees and has admitted that it has received a list of Rohingyas that Myanmar wants extradited. The deal should be illegal as it is an agreement to send them back to a killing zone.

Satellite images have shown Rohingya villages burned to the ground. Drone images are showing thousands of Rohingya fleeing Myanmar but the global approach remains limited to making aid appeals. There are also reports of Rohingya refugees being raped while fleeing Myanmar. It is disturbing that no country has offered refugee to this helpless community. Many, including India, have asked for Rohingya refugees to be ‘repatriated’ to their homeland — back into the claws of those perpetrating the ethnic cleansing. With the sheer numbers of Rohingya leaving Burma, it seems the Burmese military sees this as an opportunity to get rid of all of them. From being the most unwanted people in Myanmar, the Rohingya are on the way to becoming the most unwanted people in the world. Already denied citizenship in Myanmar, they could become a people without any citizenship whatsoever after fleeing. No sanctions have been imposed on Myanmar despite the condemnations. Pakistan – for its part – could use its close relationship with China to make a case for more solidarity by China for the Rohingya people. The failures of the UN and the world community to act has created this crisis. It is also up to them to solve it.