The saddest part of the Rohingya crisis is that no one is focusing on the repatriation of the Rohingyas to Myanmar. Why the whole world is mum over this matter? Why are we all putting pressure on Bangladesh to resettle these refugees in an unsafe and vulnerable island? It seems Bangladesh has accepted the responsibility of relocating the Rohingyas and looking for their future settlement. Precisely, they all must be sent back to Myanmar as early as possible

Today the Rohingya Muslims are nowhere. More than one million of them left their homeland of Rakhine Province, Myanmar, in 2017 after their ethnic cleansing at the hands of Myanmar Army.

Most of them descended in the neighbouring Bangladesh and stayed in makeshift camps in the Cox Bazar, a coastal town located near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border area of the country all these years.

Many of them have crossed the turbulent sea to get into other South East Asian nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Their future hangs on international intervention from nations concerned and human rights agencies. Despite an urgent urge from the UN and the case being heard in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague (Netherlands), they continue to languish in the ill-managed refugee camps in Bangladesh. But recently Dhaka took a decision to shift a large number of the Rohingya refugees to an island named Bhasan Char, in a phased manner. However, the spread of the news in the beginning of this month among the distraught Rohingyas evoked mixed feelings — many of them are quite excited to go to their new abode, thinking this could be a better place, while others are worried about their permanent dislocation from the current camps.

To unearth the root cause of the Rohingya exodus in 2017 from Rakhine to Bangladesh, we need to focus on the recent political happenings in Myanmar. The UN says the Myanmar Army demonstrated “genocidal intent” while conducting operations against the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in 2017.

According to the authorities, this operation targeted to flush out the Islamists and to bring back law and order in the Rakhine Province. But the central issue is that Myanmar does not want to recognise the Rohingyas as citizens and it sees them as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. That is why the Burmans, the major ethnic group of the country, consisting of the Army, the rest of administrative ranks and the leadership, simply do not want the Rohingyas to stay in the country.

Much before 2017, the clashes used to break out between the majority Burmans and the local Rohingyas. But in that year, the ARSA killed nearly 20 police officers and security forces of the Myanmar Army. And on August 25, the ARSA, previously known as the Harakah al-Yakin, immediately provoked a counter-insurgency operation from the federal Army of Myanmar in Rakhine Province. The Government says the ARSA is a terrorist organisation. Its leader Ata Ullah was born in Pakistan and raised mostly in Saudi Arabia. The group also released a report in 2016 according to which it is led by Rohingyas living in Saudi Arabia.

However, the concern is that striking at the ARSA is not going to solve the core issue i.e. denying citizenship to the Rohingyas. For decades, the Rohingyas have been residing in Arakan known as the Rakhine Province. Interestingly, earlier, they were given the right to vote. But with the coming of the Tatmadaw to power, gradually the basic political rights and freedoms of the Rohingyas were curtailed. Thus, the Rohingya anger has grown against the Myanmarese State fully controlled by the majority Burmans.

Many security experts opine that the ARSA may have received backing from jihadists who have fought in battlegrounds of Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, etc. The main purpose of the ARSA is to defend, salvage and protect the Rohingyas from the State repression in the line with the principle of self-defence. But the official view from Naypyidaw is that the Army operation in the province was against the terrorists, and to restore law and order in that area. Even the locals and various newspapers in the regions emphasise more on the terror attacks and the plight of the others who had to flee the area because of the clash between the Army and the Rohingyas.

It is very clear that the majority Burmans have a long-held prejudice against the Rohingya Muslims, who are not regarded as the citizens of the country. These Rohingyas are called as “Bengalis”. And most of the nationalist groups view them as a threat to their country. This is the background of the harrowing conditions of the Rohingyas that has sparked a bitter debate between Bangladesh and Myanmar, but without any credible outcome.

And anytime in future, the global jehadi groups such as the Islamic State and al-Qaeda might plant their agents to sponsor full-time Islamic terror movements in Myanmar. The Tatmadaw must be ready to face such an onslaught from these global monsters and accordingly should keep a close watch on the activities of the ARSA in the region.

The root of the plight behind the current Rohingya crisis lies in Myanmar itself. It can well be regarded as a systematic and forced migration of these people from their home province. And it is the Tatmadaw i.e. the Myanmar Army that has led a vicious and brutal campaign against the hapless Rohingyas over the years. It all started in 1978 when then Burmese Army carried out an operation called “Operation Ngamin” to drive out the Rohingyas from Rakhine.

Again, in 1982, a new law was passed by Myanmar to deny citizenship right to the Rohingya Muslims. And finally, they were excluded from the list of the country’s 135 ethnic groups. For years, Myanmar has pursued institutionalised discrimination policies like these and cornered the poor and minority Muslim Rohingyas to a point of no return to the mainstream of country.

The role of Nobel laureate and the present State Counsellor of Myanmar is highly questionable on the question of the repatriation of the Rohingyas. The suffering of the Rohingya itself is a tragedy. But the way it was carried out by the Tatmadaw had crossed all civilisational limits. Suu Kyi does not control the military and even if she wants she can’t do so. Also the military does not trust her at all.

It’s very simple because all her life she has fought against the repressive military and demanded to restore basic freedoms in the country. But today she has almost forgotten the very core of the basic freedoms for which she once bravely fought. It’s painful and sad. This time her party National League for Democracy won more seats than what they had won in the elections of 2015. But even if she could have condemned the actions of the Tatmadaw, it would not have gone to this extent.

The world knows very well what Suu Kyi said in the International Court of Justice at the Hague in December 2019. She bravely defended her country’s military against the allegations of genocide. These all have rightly signalled that she is a true politician and no more a votary of democratic rights.

The recently concluded parliamentary election has once again excluded the Rohingyas from the much awaited political process in the country. Further, because of the fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army, the November Parliamentary Election had to be cancelled in the Rakhine Province.

The saddest part of the Rohingya crisis is that no one is focusing on the repatriation of the Rohingyas to Myanmar. Why the whole world is mum over this matter? Why are we all putting pressure on Bangladesh to resettle these refugees in an unsafe and vulnerable island? It seems Bangladesh has accepted the responsibility of relocating the Rohingyas and looking for their future settlement. Precisely, they all must be sent back to Myanmar i.e. Rakhine Province, as early as possible.

The UN, the UNHRC and various other global humanitarian agencies must build up enough pressure on Naypyidaw to take back all the Rohingyas. Now a new Joe Biden administration must devise a strategy to convince the Tatmadaw for the same. Else, the Generals back home in Myanmar will take it for granted that such heinous crimes could easily avoid international attention. Though Bangladesh is assuring the repatriation of the Rohingyas in the Bhasan Char, the international community must be aware that it is a very vulnerable area to shift millions of these refugees in the days to come.

(The writer is an expert on international affairs)