Trying to repatriate the Rohingyas, again

Imagine being “welcomed” back to the country that had and is still trying to remove your people from their land. As a result of the removal, you became a refugee, far away from your home. Becoming a refugee is never anyone's first choice, it is a decision made out of desperation in times of trouble. It is the final option made to ensure survival. Yet, when the very hands that cast you out tries to bring you back, a sense of cynicism naturally arises - "Why are they asking us to go back now? Does it not seem hypocritical of them to bring us back now? Do they actually want us back?" That is the current fate for the Rohingyas - an ethnic group that had gained international attention for its dire situation in the hands of the Myanmar government.

On 16 Aug, Dhaka announced that it will conduct a second attempt to repatriate Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar. 3540 refugees had been cleared by the Myanmar government from a list of more than 22000 sent from the Bangladeshi government. The list had been sent to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to survey the refugees’ intentions with regards to repatriation.

However, Rohingya activists such as Mohammed Eleyas (Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights) mentioned that they were not previously informed of the repatriation plan and the community was not involved in the process leading up to the current plan. Moreover, the repatriation plan does not guarantee basic human rights, citizenship rights and protection from continuous persecution by the government and the people back in Myanmar, leaving the refugees doubtful and wary of being repatriated.

As a result of the Myanmar government’s constant unwillingness to agree to these terms, the previous attempt (2018) at the repatriation of Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar had been futile as virtually none of the refugees were willing to move back to Myanmar, knowing that their lives will remain in danger even with Naypyidaw’s persuasion.

Since the intensification of the military crackdown against the Rohingyas in 2015, more than 700 000 Rohingyas had fled to neighbouring Bangladesh in search for a safer place to live. However, the refugee camps are neither comfortable places to live in as well and the Bangladeshi government is itself struggling to keep the Rohingyas as well. While the people are refusing to leave and the Bangladeshi government respects their decision, the limitations of the government is clear as it is also a developing nation with its poverty rate as per its upper poverty line at 21.8% in 2018. As such, refugee camps are lacking space, sanitation, food, healthcare and various means needed to support the large population of refugees, even with assistance from the United Nations and various aid organisations.

Despite this, the Rohingyas are still refusing to cross the border back into Myanmar as long as they are not guaranteed their basic rights. Many had lost their families and their homes and moving back may very well be a death sentence for themselves. The Rakhine state continues to be in a state of disarray as an Australian think-tank reported in July 2019 that the Myanmar government had made “minimal preparations” for the repatriation of the Rohingyas. In the meantime, those responsible for the violence and persecution of the Rohingyas remain in power, without fear of any actions being taken against them as the Myanmar government had repeatedly rejected the findings of the United Nations which had condemned those involved in the persecution of the Rohingyas.

“They tell us very clearly we want to go back with .. full rights . They are not willing to go back if nothing on the ground has changed.” - Caroline Gluck, spokeswoman for UNHCR

No matter how much the Myanmar government tries to persuade them to return, without any concrete actions to regard this ethnic group on equal footing as citizens of Myanmar and the end of any violence against them, it seems impossible that any Rohingyas will willingly return to the place they had painstakingly tried to escape from.

UNHCR will be relaying information about the repatriation plan to the refugees and seeking their opinions on whether they will prefer staying in Bangladesh or return to Myanmar.

(Cover photo DFID - UK Department for International Development, Emergency food, drinking water and shelter to help people displaced in Rakhine State, western Burma. (8288488088), CC BY-SA 2.0 )

By Eugene Goh