Apprehensions over outcome of Rohingya MOU
It is only natural for apprehensions to arise over the MOU signed with Myanmar on Thursday regarding repatriation of the Rohingya refugees to the Rakhine state in Myanmar. Foreign minister AH Mahmud Ali tried to justify the MOU at a press conference on Saturday, but ground reality and experience tells a different story. Myanmar has always used such agreements as a strategy to meet its own ends. So, along with this bilateral move, there is no alternative but to ensure international and multilateral pressure on Myanmar.
Myanmar wanted the MOU to be on the lines of the refugee repatriation agreement signed in 1992 and that is how the present MOU has been drawn up, according to the foreign minister. He said there was no point in nitpicking. The important thing is that Myanmar wants to take the Rohingyas back.
It is undoubtedly important that the Rohingyas be sent back, but as such an initiative hadn’t met with success in the past, there is all reason to be apprehensive about the efficacy of the present MOU. The problem lies in Myanmar’s Rohingya policy. They do not recognise their citizenship and subject them to discrimination. This policy has led to Rohingyas fleeing into Bangladesh over the past few decades. This time the Rohingya crisis has taken on alarming proportions.
Alongside any understanding or initiative regarding refugee repatriation, stress must also be placed on a change in Myanmar’s position on Rohingyas. Unless the matter of their citizenship is sorted out, they cannot remain safe there. The crisis may just recur. Also, though the MOU states that the repatriation will begin in two months, there is no cut off date as to when it will end.
From the outset of the Rohingya crisis, Myanmar has been denying the allegations of oppressing and repressing Rohingyas in Arakan. If Myanmar took any initiative to bring the situation under control, 800 thousand Rohingyas wouldn’t have had to flee from the country. Finally international pressure mounted on the country and they were obliged to sign an MOU with Bangladesh for the repatriation of the refugees. This MOU will go in Myanmar’s favour. It will lessen international pressure on them and they can use the bilateral agreement as a shield to protect any possible sanctions and trial of the army officials. But there is no guarantee that Bangladesh will be freed of the refugee burden.
Myanmar must not just take its citizens back, but must also ensure their safety. There must be initiative at an international level to ensure justice regarding the genocide and brutalities against the Rohingya people.