Keep up the pressure on Myanmar
A 17-member delegation from Myanmar is in Bangladesh now to verify the identities of Rohingya refugees in Teknaf, with the first batch of refugees reportedly expected to be repatriated in a few months. While this indicates that pressure from the international community has been effective to some extent, it is essential that the community does not take its foot off the pedal until Myanmar authorities live up to their responsibility of creating a safe environment for the return of the refugees, and completely end the persecution campaign against the Rohingya. It is also important to remember that Myanmar has backtracked on most of its previous commitments. Therefore, there is no reason to take its words at face value unless there are substantial actions taken to back them.
The reason for the ongoing visit by the Myanmar delegation, according to Bangladeshi officials, is that there were some issues regarding the earlier verification process. So, the delegation is apparently meeting the Rohingya in person and verifying their names, villages, towns, and other information. Foreign ministry officials say that Myanmar has shown growing interest about the repatriation in recent times, and also arranged a trip for the ambassadors of Asean countries as well as Bangladesh, India, and China to the Rakhine State last week to show them the conditions there. While all this sounds positive, we cannot ignore the fact that there have been two failed attempts of repatriation since 2017, when around 750,000 Rohingyas fled a military crackdown in Rakhine. And on both occasions, it was because of Myanmar authorities.
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The latest visit comes ahead of the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) planned hearing (scheduled for April 28) on the genocide case filed by The Gambia against Myanmar. And we sincerely hope that Myanmar's recent activities are not intended to somehow pull the wool over the court's eyes. However, that is not something that can be fully ruled out, as we have seen the Bangladeshi government appealing many times to the authorities in Myanmar to take steps for repatriation, only for it to be ignored. Moreover, we have seen Myanmar authorities delaying the repatriation process over and over again, using trivial excuses and arguments. In fact, every time there seemed to have been a breakthrough in the process, Myanmar found a way to throw a wrench into the whole thing.
After hosting the Rohingya for more than five years, Bangladesh is now in a position where it cannot afford any more delays in repatriation. That is why the government must work with the international community to continue the pressure on Myanmar authorities to expedite the repatriation process. Given the speed at which Myanmar seems to be working currently, it might take a whole decade for all the Rohingya to return to Myanmar. That would be completely unacceptable. While we cannot forget the humanitarian aspect of things, which means that safe conditions must be ensured for the Rohingya to return, the Myanmar authorities must be pressured to fulfil such conditions and complete the repatriation process much faster.
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