Rohingya repatriation talks yet to start

Fresh talks at a foreign secretary level between Bangladesh and Myanmar had been scheduled for February this year, to discuss the Rohingya repatriation issue. At the request of Myanmar, the talks were postponed for two months and a fresh date was set for May. However due to the coronavirus outbreak, it has not been possible to hold these talks. So now even the start of talks on the repatriation issue has been stalled.

There is little likelihood of the talks to begin in August either, given the prevailing situation, Bangladeshi diplomats in Dhaka and Yangon told Prothom Alo. If the talks are not held in August, then these may not be held at all this year because Myanmar has its general election at the start of November. There are no signs that the country will be interested in talks on the Rohingya repatriation issue before the election.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement in November 2017 for the start of the Rohingya repatriation. The next year, a foreign minister level joint working group (JWG) was formed in February so that the repatriation could begin. The fourth and last meeting of the JWG ended in May last year at Naypyidaw. Bangladesh had wanted the fifth JWG meeting to be held in February this year.

Former diplomats and international relations experts say that from the beginning of the Rohingya influx, the international community, particularly the United Nations, European Union and other such organisations, various western countries and human rights organisations, has stood beside Bangladesh. But the move for repatriation was being made without taking them into cognizance.

Even with China’s mediation, the two countries failed to carry out repatriation on the planned fate of 22 August last year. The first date fixed by the two countries was for 15 November 2018, but that too fell through. It is more or less proven that bilateral efforts, even with China’s mediation, are not working out.

It remains doubtful if Rohingya repatriation can even start without combined pressure from the international community including the UN. It is not even clear what Bangladesh’s next plans are in this regard.

Speaking over cell phone to Prothom Alo yesterday, foreign minister AK Abdul Momen said that the Rohingyas are people of Myanmar. They must return there. The international community is giving them some humanitarian assistance and that’s it. He said, “We have told the international community time and again to put pressure on Myanmar. Myanmar will not take the Rohingyas back unless they are put under pressure.”

The UN has termed the Myanmar military operation, launched on 25 August 2017 against the Rohingyas in Rakhine state, genocide. The Rohingyas fled for their lives, entered Bangladesh and took shelter in various camps in Cox’s Bazar. Over one million Rohingyas are now residing in these camps.

As part of preparation for the repatriation process, Bangladesh handed over in five phases the list of names of 597,000 Rohingyas. At the beginning of this year, a list of the names of 492,000 Rohingyas was handed over. Myanmar has said it is only prepared to take back 11,000 Rohingyas among all those on these lists.

China’s initiative and international silence

The international community, including the UN, from the beginning till now have been stressing on the need to ensure an environment conducive for the Rohingyas to return to Rakhine voluntarily and with dignity. However, with the coronavirus pandemic all over the world, the Rohingya repatriation issue has taken a back seat. According to foreign relations experts, given the proximity of Myanmar with China, Japan, Korea and other countries of the regions, the western countries are unwilling to distance themselves too.

The Myanmar government maintains that their exports have gone up by 57 percent since 2017, the year that the brutality took place in Rakhine. The European market is one of the major destinations of their exports. Compared to 2011-15, foreign investment in Myanmar increased by 47 percent in 2016-19.

After the crackdown in Rakhine, the European Union (EU) blacklisted certain senior military officers of Myanmar, including General Min Aung Hlaing, barring their travel to Europe. On the other hand, the country receives GSP (Generalised System of Preference) facilities for its trade with European Union (EU) countries.

Case in US court

After the brutalities against the Rohingyas in Rakhine, senior army and police officers of Myanmar and their institutions would regularly post various comments and pictures on Facebook. Gambia wants to use these posts as evidence of genocide. It has filed a case in the US for Facebook to release information on these posts.

The case was filed on 5 June at the District of Columbia Court by lawyers Peter O’Toole and Aisha Hussain of Miller and Chevaliar Chartered, on behalf of Gambia. The lawyers appealed to the court to order Facebook to release information on these posts as these could be used as evidence of genocide. After the case, the Facebook authorities will take steps in accordance to the law, reported NBC News.

A few months ago Myanmar closed down 20 Facebook accounts. Gambia has asked for information on the contents of all of these 20 accounts.

In November last year Gambia filed charges of genocide against Myanmar with the International Court of Justice (ICJ). After the hearing, ICJ issued a four-point directive on 23 January. This included that Myanmar should preserve all evidence related to the halt of genocide of Rohingyas and the allegations of the genocide. And within four months Myanmar was to inform the court what measures it had taken.

In keeping with the ICJ order, Myanmar submitted its report to the court within four months. The contents of the report have not been made public as yet.

Former foreign secretary Md Touhid Hossain, speaking to Prothom Alo on the overall issue, said, Myanmar is rich in resources and so many are eager to keep good relations with the country. China is in the forefront and Japan is not far behind. There is no solution to this problem in sight for now. So there is no alternative but to proceed with extremely careful planning.