The Rohingyas are being touted as the most persecuted minority in the world. This is not far from the truth. Yet, the timing couldn’t have been worse for them as there are major humanitarian crises in Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya among others which means the world has bigger fish to fry. To compound to their problems, there is a worldwide backlash against refugees in a time of mass migration. The Rohingyas are the personification of a stateless people.
Brief History
First of all, nation-state is in itself a very modern 20th century concept in the Asian region. There used to be civilizations, settlements, nationalities, ethnicities within amorphous boundaries. The Rohingyas are Bengali-speaking Muslims who’ve settled in the Arakan valley of present day Myanmar since the 15th century at a time when countries were not defined.
Although Myanmar comprises of a Buddhist majority, the population is not homogeneous and constitutes many ethnicities. Rohingya Muslims of the Rakhine state are but one of the many ethnicities. But here religion, ethnicity as well as linguistics come into play. During the British rule in India, erstwhile Burma was part of India. Before the British policy of divide and rule there were no territorial divisions on the basis of religion.
During the 2nd World War, the Rohingyas supported the British whereas the Buddhists supported the Japanese. Therein the seeds of fissure were sown. At the time of independence, the Rohingyas requested the newly formed Pakistan to include their territory and people which was summarily rejected by Jinnah as he brushed his hands off “issues of Burma”. The differences were apparent by now. In 1962, the Burmese military in a coup overthrew the govt. and formed a military junta. To unite the people of Myanmar, they projected the Rohingyas as common enemy of the Buddhist majority.
Rohingya Crisis
The political persecution of the Rohingyas has begun since the advent of the military junta. The Rohingyas were stricken off and denied formal citizenship in their 1982 Citizenship law. Since the 1980s, there has been what the UNHRC has termed “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” which has only exacerbated in the recent past.
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi led National League for Democracy came to power after years of military junta rule in Myanmar. Being an apostle of democracy herself hopes of assimilation of the Rohingyas arose which were later to be let down. The new regime carried on with the same impunity the persecution and the marginalization along with the sexual assault on women and the burning of villages. Various individuals and groups globally have appealed to Suu Kyi to walk the talk and ensure speedy justice but so far we’ve seen dilatory tactics by her.
The Rohingyas now have a group known as ARSA (Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army) which is nothing but akin to ethno-based terrorist group. This group may not have the backing of all Rohingyas but it is still at large. This group is allegedly being supported by jihadi organizations like Al Qaeda and ISIS. Even LeT chief Hafeez Saeed, a wanted terrorist, has extended his support to this group.
This is where the irony lies. The support to Rohingya is from non-state actors who themselves are to blame for crime against humanity. This also gives justification for indiscriminate state action. The innocents are the ones who suffer the most. None of the so-called Islamic countries has opened their borders for Rohingya migrants. Rohingyas have been turned back from both Malaysia and Indonesia. Arab countries couldn’t care in the least. The crisis which ensued since 2016 has led to mass migration of the Rohingyas, mostly to Bangladesh which mercifully has sheltered about 600,000 of them. To make matters worse, the Myanmar military has razed villages belonging to Rohingyas in the Rakhine state to ground. Tragically, the Rohingyas are referred to as ‘boat people’.
Indian position
India has had a long history of giving refuge to the politically and socially persecuted, the Jews and Tibetans for instance. There are 40,000 Rohingyas who reside in India. Out of them, as per official records only 16,000 have officially sought refuge, while the others are “illegal immigrants” as declared in the Ministry of Home Affairs circular. This is a clear departure from the accommodative stance of previous governments.
The proximity of a few Rohingyas to terror organizations and the growing fear of radicalization cannot be ruled out entirely. The government circular is taking into consideration the worst case scenario. But what we are forgetting here is again the same conundrum – “No country for the Rohingyas”. Where would they be deported to? They are facing the worst genocide in their homeland. Can a responsible country send them to their death?
This is where there has been a diplomatic misstep. Instead of putting diplomatic pressure on Myanmar to quell the state-led excesses and reintegrate the Rohingyas in the social milieu, PM Narendra Modi sympathized with Myanmar on their problem of terrorism. From that standpoint, deportation does not seem like a possibility. Identifying the entire Rohingya community with the terror challenge will make repatriation and reintegration even more tenuous.
At the same time, domestically, concerted efforts need to be directed towards ensuring proper certification of all the Rohingya migrants and they be given formal refugee status, so that even from national security point of view their activities are better monitored.
Interestingly, India offered Bangladesh with humanitarian aid in the name of ‘Operation Insaniyat’ to help overcome the socio-economic burden due to influx of Rohingyas. While this move is commendable, this is incongruous with the position taken on the Rohingyas residing in India. Although India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 or its Protocol of 1967, the principle of non-refoulement is a global common and India must respect that.
Way forward
Meanwhile, China has come out of its slumber and wrested control over the issue by proffering a 3-step solution to the Rohingya crisis by calling on both the Bangladesh and Myanmar foreign ministers. This is a diplomatic coup for them and this is somewhere India, with much more at stake, should have been more proactive.
The time is ripe for making sure that India puts the same diplomatic pressure on Myanmar to ensure citizenship rights for the Rohingyas, as it did with Sri Lanka for Tamils. India may not have the same leverage with Myanmar as it did with Sri Lanka, but this is a step in the right direction. If repatriation of Rohingyas is the ultimate goal then at least the conditions for that must be set right. None of the Western countries are willing to play a role in Myanmar as there is not much at stake. The Arab countries offer mere tokenism. China has often vetoed UNSC resolutions against Myanmar and enjoys considerable leverage without any shared burden. It is the neighbors and especially India and Bangladesh who are the most affected in terms of both socio-economics as well as security, needless to mention, the Rohingyas themselves.
Who is willing to think for Rohingyas from the standpoint of humanity?
astronomick 