It has been around three years that the Rohingya refugees, fleeing from their homes in Myanmar, have taken shelter in Bangladesh. With limited resources and a burgeoning population, sheltering these 1.5 people is an additional pressure on Bangladesh. While it is essential for the Rohingyas to be repatriated, Myanmar remains adamant not to take them back. Backed by powerful countries like Russia and China, it remains firm in its stand.
At present, there are over 70 million displaced persons in different places of the world. This is the highest number of displaced persons since World War II. Among the displaced persons, there are 25.9 million refugees sheltered in different countries. And half of them are below the age of 18. According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the origins of two-thirds of the world’s refugee are Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar.
These facts were revealed in UNHCR’s annual Global Trends Report released on Thursday in Geneva. The report was released on the occasion of World Refugee Day, observed every year on 20 June.
The report notes diminishing prospects for a quick end to the plight of the refugees. It said in the nineties, on average 1.5 million refugees were able to return home each year. Over the past decade, this number fell to around 385,000, indicating the shrinking space for sustainable solutions for the displaced.
The presence of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is a matter of international concern. The UN report mentions that these people, faced with ethnic cleansing, were driven from their homes around three years ago. Myanmar has been carrying out brutality against the Rohingyas for the past few decades, but for the first time in history, the country has had to face international courts such as ICC (International Criminal Court) and ICJ (International Court of Justice).
Despite international criticism and having to stand before the international tribunals, Myanmar is doing nothing to take back the Rohingyas, which is the fundamental solution to the problem. Support from powerful countries Russia and China has strengthened Myanmar’s stance against Rohingya repatriation.
Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen has said no one chooses to become a refugee. They are forced to become refugees due to conflict. The conflict must be stopped at source. The hatred must be diminished. Bangladesh feels that if the hate can be diminished, a culture of peace can be established.
Speaking to Prothom Alo in context of World Refugee Day, the foreign minister on Friday said, “Myanmar agreed to discussions with us to reach a solution. We told them that they must take the Rohingyas back with dignity and security. An environment must be created for their voluntary return. Myanmar agreed to everything. However, no favourable environment has been created in Rakhine over the past three years. On the contrary, while there are ceasefires all around the world because of coronavirus, violence continues in Rakhine. We are steadily becoming frustrated.”
At least 400,000 Rohingyas took shelter in Bangladesh from before 2017. The Myanmar army cracked down on Rohingyas in Rakhine, accusing them to launching an attack on army outposts on 25 August 2017. Since then, over the preceding months, another 750,000 Rohingyas fled into Bangladesh. There are now a total of around 1.15 million Rohingyas taking refuge in Bangladesh.
Speaking to Prothom Alo on Friday about worsening global scenario for refugees, senior fellow of North South University, Md Shahidul Haque, said that on one hand the number of refugees and displaced persons is increasing, and on the other, the process that emerged after World War II to protect such communities, has broken down. The US, Europe and other countries that had been at the forefront to protect them and uphold their human rights, have now halted their programmes to support such communities.
Md Shahidul Haque went on to say, actually the process of protecting refugees is faced with serious problems politically, economically and in other ways. Some are of the opinion that the new liberal global order was based on the protection of refugees, immigrants and displaced persons. So the question looms large as to how to protect the population of 75 million. There will be no solution any time soon as those who would protect them, have now stepped back. And those without citizenship, scattered all over the world, will be hit hardest by the emerging global recession. Various UN agencies are reluctant to stand by them. Uncertainty prevails.
People cannot be expected to live in a state of upheaval for years on end, without a chance of going home, nor a hope of building a future where they are. We need a fundamentally new and more accepting attitude towards all who flee, coupled with a much more determined drive to unlock conflicts that go on for years and that are at the root of such immense suffering.Filippo Grandi, UN high commissioner for refugees
The North South University senior fellow went on to say, Bangladesh has played significant role to regarding accountability for the plight of the Rohingyas. Though Gambia filed the case for OIC with the ICJ, Bangladesh played a role behind the scenes. From the very outset Myanmar was determined not to take back the Rohingyas that is why a second-party solution is difficult. No progress was made with mediation by others. The matter must continue to be discussed at a multilateral forum, while also maintaining the bilateral process.
Under mounting international pressure, in November 2017 Myanmar signed a repatriation agreement with Bangladesh, keeping China behind the scenes. The next year a secretary-level joint working group was formed and several meetings were held regarding the repatriation of Rohingyas. Bangladesh signed an agreement with UNHCR, and Myanmar with UNDP and UNHCR in this regard. However, there was no scope for the unimpeded return of the Rohingyas to Rakhine and international quarters continue to ask whether a favourable environment has been created there for their repatriation.
In the meantime, on 30 November 2018, Myanmar and Bangladesh suddenly fixed a date for the Rohingyas to return, without even consulting the Rohingyas. The plan fell through.
In mid-2018, China more or less openly got Bangladesh and Myanmar to sit for talks and speed up the repatriation issue. Even last year, without taking the situation in Rakhine or the views of the Rohingyas into consideration, on 15 August once again a date for repatriation was fixed. This fell through too. Then in September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, China formed a tripartite committee, in consultation with Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Preparations were supposed to have been made according to the recommendations of the ambassadors of China and Myanmar in Dhaka and a director general of the foreign ministry. The three countries have held at least four meetings so far, but no progress has been made. At the initiative of the Chinese ambassador, an inspection of the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar was arranged, but the Myanmar ambassador backed out at the last minute.
The UN high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, has said, “We are witnessing a changed reality in that forced displacement nowadays is not only vastly more widespread but is simply no longer a short-term and temporary phenomenon. People cannot be expected to live in a state of upheaval for years on end, without a chance of going home, nor a hope of building a future where they are. We need a fundamentally new and more accepting attitude towards all who flee, coupled with a much more determined drive to unlock conflicts that go on for years and that are at the root of such immense suffering.”