THE Rohingya are a Muslim minority in Myanmar that has long suffered discrimination, disenfranchisement and communal violence. The United Nations has described the Rohingya as “among the world’s least wanted” people and “one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.”
Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, has made it a state policy to persecute and marginalize the Rohingya. They are denied citizenship and the right to higher education, and are not allowed to travel without official permission. They are mainly confined to Rakhine state, a narrow strip of land in northwestern Myanmar.
The oppression sparked a rebellion led by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, or ARSA. In October 2016, the insurgents attacked three police stations in Rakhine, killing nine police officers.
That gave the Myanmar junta the excuse to launch a “clearance operation,” the official name for the wave of ethnic cleansing and genocide that targeted the Rohingya. Close to 7,000 of the ethnic minority were killed in the first months of the brutal campaign, and 87,000 were forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.
The UN has documented the pillage of villages, mass rapes and extrajudicial killings by government forces. International efforts to investigate the atrocities have been foiled because Myanmar’s ruling clique invokes its constitutional authority over what it insists is a domestic security problem.
Today, more than a million Rohingya live in refugee camps in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and India, their prospects for returning to their homeland remote.
Late last month, the Rohingya refugee crisis took a turn for the worst after Malaysia began sending nearly 1,500 Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar.
Kuala Lumpur’s decision raised an outcry from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and human rights groups like Amnesty International, who warned about the dangers that lie in wait for the returnees.
There are fears that the repatriated Rohingya could be forcibly conscripted into the military or police, or even by anti-government militia armies.
Those circumstances were glossed over by the government of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, which is looking for a way to calm down a growing xenophobia that singles out Rohingya refugees.
Malaysia is giving temporary refuge to more than 125,000 Rohingya and thousands of undocumented Myanmarese, and sustaining this humanitarian effort is putting a strain on the country’s economy.
One way out of this predicament is through a legal loophole called “voluntary repatriations.” Malaysia considers asylum seekers like the Rohingya as illegal immigrants who can be legally deported once they’ve served out sentences for immigration offenses.
Malaysia and Myanmar have signed an agreement to repatriate an initial 1,478 Rohingya who have voluntarily indicated their intent to return home.
Human rights watchdogs argue they have no way to verify if the returning Rohingya were not coerced into making their decision. Sending people back to areas where they face abuse, torture, or even death violates international principles, they said.
“We are concerned by these returns at a time when people sent back to Myanmar may face serious risks, and some within the group may be in need of international protection,” the UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Edem Wosornu said.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman worried about the impact of prolonged displacement, both for the Rohingya and the countries that harbor them.
“Prolonged uncertainty and disruption are creating new challenges and security risks, including human trafficking, migrant smuggling, drug trafficking and other transnational crimes,” Rahman said.
What is difficult to comprehend is Asean’s failure to fully confront the Rohingya refugee crisis. The reasons are deep-seated.
Asean is firmly anchored to a policy of non-interference. The bloc does not want to meddle in a member state’s internal problems.
Surprisingly, Asean doesn’t have the legal or political framework to tackle issues concerning refugees or asylum seekers. The Philippines and Cambodia are the only members that signed the 1951 Refugee Convention.
The bloc is sharply divided on the Rohingya issue, and the lack of a united driving force has allowed the problem to fester.
The Philippines, as chairman of this year’s Asean, can provide the impetus to bring the Rohingya issue into sharp focus.
We share the sentiment of one political observer who said Rohingya refugees “deserve a future beyond survival, not endless displacement.”
