Arsa is being used to destabilize the Rohingya camp

Dailyhover
Marc Barman
December 9, 2021

Former Foreign Secretary and North South University South Asian Institute of Policy Governance Fellow Professor. Shahidul Haque said many believe that the Myanmar army is using the terrorist group Arsa to destabilize the Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar. If the Rohingyas do not unite now, Arsa’s dominance will expand. This will weaken the efforts to establish the rights of the Rohingya.

Shahidul Haque made the remarks at a webinar on Thursday to establish justice for the Rohingya.

The talks were held on the sidelines of the 20th General Assembly of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The webinar was jointly organized by Bangladesh, Gambia and Brussels-based human rights group No Peace Without Justice. The discussion was moderated by Alison Smith, Director of No Peace Without Justice.

Discussing whether the Rohingya crisis has fallen into the trap of global geopolitics, Shahidul Haque said, “I am hopeful that Bangladesh has approached the ICC, ICJ and IIMM to resolve the issue.” Sometimes the topic of geopolitics is confusing. While discussing the solution to the Rohingya crisis, Bangladesh has seen that China, India as well as other important ASEAN countries have put their own interests ahead of humanitarian and solution of the issue. When Bangladesh was preparing to go to ICC and ICJ, they were pressuring not to go to international court. We thank Gambia for its generosity in taking the Rohingya genocide case to the ICJ. “

Regarding the situation in Cox’s Bazar and the attitude of the Rohingya towards the Myanmar government, Shahidul Haque said that during the almost one year of the military occupation of Myanmar, it has been seen that terrorist and criminal groups have become quite active in the Rohingya camps. They are coming down the hill, which is very worrying.

Not only in Bangladesh, many people think that Myanmar’s army is using Arsa to destabilize the camp. “I applaud the exiled Rohingya groups for their recent statements against Arsa,” he said. They should have done it earlier. Because, if we do not unite now against Arsar, the attempt to establish the rights of Rohingyas may come to a standstill. ‘

Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya human rights activist living in Canada, said the current situation in Myanmar does not guarantee that there will be no recurrence of genocide in the future. In the process of international justice, there are not enough arrangements to see whether the court’s instructions are being followed in the field. Again, in the process of ICC, nothing is happening fast. The ICC is working to gather more data, which means it will take time.

Noting that the current situation in the Rohingya camps is not conducive, Yasmin Ullah said that in other parts of the world, large groups of young people and criminal groups are taking advantage of poverty. I am not denying the presence of Arsa. Now it is important to study what is happening behind the rise of Arsa.

Tun Khin, president of the UK-based Burma Rohingya Organization, said two years on, Myanmar had not complied with the ICJ’s interim order. The situation has deteriorated due to the occupation of power by the army. There is still a situation where genocide is being organized. The culture of impunity continues in Myanmar as the international community has not done enough. The international community must put pressure on Myanmar to stop this.

Asked how the expatriate Rohingyas view the role of Myanmar’s alternative government or the National Unity Government (NUG), Tun Khin said, “They are more progressive than others. But when we talk about inclusion, we are not just talking about the rights of the Rohingya. We are talking about the rights of all ethnic groups in the country. So they have to go to the past. If you do not look at the past, how will they move towards the future. They need to clarify how they will recognize Rohingya citizenship. They also have to say what they will do with the military government’s ’82 citizenship law. Because, the law was made during the military rule. So NUG has a lot to do. ‘

Yasmin Ullah said the political rights of ethnic groups are important. Myanmar is now going through an extremely bad situation. So far they have not done enough. Because, so far racial hatred has continued in the country. As a result, it is important to have a system in place to ensure that NUGs are held accountable. So I want to be careful about them.

In his introductory speech, Gambia’s Attorney General Hossain Thomas said that the ICJ had unanimously issued an interim order two years ago to prevent any recurrence of the Rohingya genocide in the future. But Myanmar has not yet taken the necessary steps to comply with the court’s directive. The Security Council requested that in addition to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s ongoing inspections in Myanmar, that it monitor Myanmar’s compliance with “the steps required by the IAEA Board”. It is important that the Security Council use force against Myanmar. 

 

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