Myanmar displays sense of urgency on the crisis
The Rohingya minorities in Myanmar will probably get respite from the current bout of sufferings they are undergoing. The announcement was made by Myanmar’s Deputy Minister for Defence, Rear-Admiral Myint Nwe, that the world should give his Government “time and space” to solve the crisis. Also, his admission that his Government was “fully aware of the growing concern about the widespread reports on (the) situation in Rakhine”, where the Rohingya live, and was committed to addressing the issue, is welcome. This finally shows the seriousness on the part of the democratically elected Government of the country, led by Aung San Suu Kyi's National league for Democracy (NlD). It seems what has really worked is increasing pressure from international humanitarian agencies and important donor countries on Myanmar.
The international community can now at least see a silver lining in the simmering Rohingya conflict, as the statement has come directly from the military. It is so because under the current Constitution of Myanmar, which came into effect in 2008 during the heydays of the junta rule, 25 per cent of the seats in Parliament is reserved for military personnel. Under this Constitution, the three key Ministries — Defence, Border Affairs and Home Affairs — are allotted to the serving military officers and the legislature cannot scrutinise the budget of the military.
The military decides crucial matters, where the civilian Ministries have absolutely no say, though the Suu Kyi-led NlD has more members. International human rights agencies such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and also the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, have asked the military to take a call and allow these organisations to monitor the situation. This did not happen since October 9, when the country's military fanned out to encircle the troubled spots of the restive Rakhine Province, where suspectedjihadis had killed nine policemen of the Government. Massive international campaigns, built up by human rights watchdogs, then hardly helped. The military has been actively carrying out combing operations to nab all the suspects in the Rohingya homeland, who the Government thinks have close links with international jihadis.
The Myanmar military has the right to strike against anti-national elements. But in the name of countering these elements, it should not suppress basic human rights of the Rohingyas or the others. Democracy icon Suu Kyi should take a more active interest in bringing peace. At the same time, it’s also a fact that militant elements have probably infiltrated the ranks of the ordinary Rohingyas and are out to destabilise not just Myanmar but also the entire neighbourhood. These militants, according to many experts observing the situation, could be backed by terror groups. Myanmar’s military could not have ignored this possibility, which is why it has launched a concerted drive to flush such people out.