As Myanmar fell back into the grips of military rule following a successful coup d'état on Monday, concern has been raised over the impact this would have on minority groups in the troubled Southeast-Asian country. Further scrutiny has also been placed on neighbouring Bangladesh and its policy towards ethnic cleansing next door, as plans for the return of Rohingyan refugees fell into jeopardy after the coup. On Monday morning, the Burmese military enacted a coup d'état which returned the country to military rule just under 10 years after handing it over to a civilian government. The precedence this would have on the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, who fled ethnic cleansing and violence also at the hands of the military in Myanmar in 2017, is uncertain. Bangladesh needs to start reviewing its policy very critically and self-honestly, a top Burmese human rights activist declared on The Special Focus on Salaamedia this week. Dr. Maung Zarni, co-founder of Forces of Renewal for Southeast Asia (FORSEA), noted that Bangladesh has had to deal with the Rohingya issue since 1978, when the first wave of large-scale Rohingya exodus from Myanmar took place, but has yet to devise a coherent strategy to deal with the crisis. He said: "Bangladesh has had 40 years to devise a national strategy to deal with chronic waves of the impact of Burmese genocidal purges and it does not seem to have any coherent policy." "Instead", he says, "Bangladesh is taking out its frustration and rage over the absence of any progress of repatriation on the part of the Burmese, and the so-called international community that failed to put enough pressure on Myanmar government or military to take back one million people. So Bangladesh is taking it out on the Rohingyans." Dr. Maung Zarni is a Burmese educator, academic, human rights activist and political commentator who is currently living in exile in the United Kingdom. He is noted for his opposition to the violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State and Rohingya refugee crisis. Relocation of Rohingyans In December 2020, 1,776 Rohingya were relocated to Basancher during the second phase from the Cox's Bazar camp in Bangladesh. International human rights activists and organisations have raised concern over alleged forced relocation, though Bangladeshi authorities have denied such claims. Basancher is a cyclone-prone island located approximately two hours away from the mainland and has never been inhabited by any large-scale human community. The remote island often faces the risk of storms and cyclones. It is said that not even Bangladeshi fishermen have been able to adapt to the weather patterns and other harsh elements on the island. "Bangladesh is failing the Rohingya refugees." Two weeks ago, Bangladesh decided to buy 100 000 tones of rice from Myanmar in an effort to overcome a shortage of the staple food for the country's more than 160 million people. Dr. Zarni described this purchase as "outrageous" and criticised the country for the its decision. "You cannot have this schizophrenic foreign policy where, on one hand, you you are buying rice from the genocidal killers and then, on the other hand, say you want to be good friends and you want to work with the Burmese government, military or civilian, to repatriate the Rohingyans peacefully. Adv. Shabnam Mayet, organiser of Protect the Rohingya, believes that the way forward should be to integrate Rohingyan refugees into Bangladeshi society as repatriation looks unlikely under Myanmar's returned military rule. She said: "We need to speak about integrating the Rohingya into Bangladeshi society so they can go to school, they can seek livelihoods and they can be in charge of their own lives. At this point, they [Bangladesh] are keeping them in this mega camp with increased surveillance." South Africa has a moral duty to show solidarity and set an example Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition and a prolific Rohingya activist, sent a strong message to South Africa and the international community at large. "I want to give a message to the international community including the South African government and public: Our suffering is more than 40-years-long. We want to end this suffering and we want to live with human dignity." Dr. Zarni echoed Lwin's sentiment and added a call for the international community to boycott Myanmar. He said: "At the height of apartheid the overwhelming majority of people stood up and boycotted the apartheid regime because apartheid was declared a crime against humanity. We have in [Myanmar] a regime that has committed all crimes in the international law book - crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. It's about time the South African government and South African public take the lead in calling for a similar international boycott against Myanmar. South Africa has a moral duty to lead this global boycott against Myanmar." Watch the full discussion here:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorZahid Jadwat is a South African writer, columnist, podcaster and radio show host. Archives
March 2021
Categories
All
|