Rohingya Muslims Should Only Return To Myanmar Under UN Supervision
07 December 2017By Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi
Global media has reported that Bangladesh has reached an agreement with the
government of Myanmar that will allow hundreds of thousands of Rohingya
Muslims to return to Myanmar. Rohingya Muslims have been victims of genocide
and rape and have had their property destroyed by the Myanmar military and
security officers. The United Nations, the US Administration and international
human rights organizations have said that these acts were tantamount to ethnic
cleansing and crimes against humanity.
The agreement, signed by senior officials from both parties in the capital of
Myanmar, is considered by Bangladesh to be a step in the right direction to
resolving the Rohingya Muslim conflict. Over a million Rohingya are living in
Bangladeshi camps after leaving Myanmar. Around 400,000 of them fled the
country earlier while others escaped last August when the Myanmar army
launched a ferocious campaign against them.
The army burned down entire villages, demolished homes and mosques, killed men
and raped women. The survivors fled to nearby Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi
government and non-profit organizations could not accommodate the large number
of Muslims nor could they provide them with shelter, food and medication.
Media reports have said that Myanmar was ready to receive those Rohingya
Muslims who wanted to return. The reports did not mention any guarantees. It
is said that the Myanmar government is planning to put the returning Muslims
into camps worse than those in Bangladesh. Furthermore, the Myanmar government
has categorically denied that Muslims were victims of crimes against humanity
and has stated that Rohingya Muslims were not killed, raped or forced to flee
the country.
However, the entire world has witnessed the crimes committed against the
Rohingya, which the UN and Human Rights Council have described as the most
persecuted minority in the world. This happened before the ferocious attack
that was launched last August under the nose of the Myanmar government led by
the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been accused of being
a racist and of supporting all the crimes committed against the Rohingya by
extremist Buddhists or the army.
Desmond Tutu, the South African Anglican bishop who also won the Nobel Peace
Prize, has condemned Suu Kyi for remaining silent about the crimes committed
against the Rohingya minority. He has called upon her to end the crimes which
have claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people, destroyed dozens of
villages, burned thousands of homes and caused over 600,000 to flee the
country to nearby Bangladesh.
Any agreement between the government of Bangladesh and the government of
Myanmar regarding the return of refugees to their country must be supervised
by the United Nations. Peacekeeping forces selected by the UN should guarantee
the full protection of refugees. In fact, the UN should select the countries
whose military members should participate in the peacekeeping force.
The UN must force the Myanmar government to return citizenship to Rohingya
Muslims and revoke all racist laws that have deprived them of their civil and
human rights. A committee headed by the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan
has recommended that all Rohingya Muslims should be given the citizenship that
was withdrawn from them in 1982 based on unjust laws passed by the despotic
military regime that had isolated the country for over half a century.
Rohingya Muslims fled the country because of the cruelty of the Myanmar
regime. If they return, it would not be fair to put them in camps and subject
them to ethnic cleansing. They have every right to refuse to return to Myanmar
and to stay in Bangladesh until the conflict has been resolved and their
identity has been returned to them, an identity which was destroyed by racist
laws that permitted extremist Buddhists to attack them.
The UN and the global community must fulfill their moral and human
responsibilities and do something about the crimes against humanity committed
against Rohingya Muslims. The perpetrators of those crimes should be punished;
condemnation is not enough. Also, sanctions should be imposed on the Myanmar
racist government to force it to treat Rohingya Muslims fairly just like other
members of society.
Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast
Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com
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