Rohingya Refugee Crisis Needs Prompt And Thorough Solution – OpEd

eurasiareview

Samina Akhter
September 3, 2022

Displaced Rohingya in Myanmar. Photo Credit: Tasnim News Agency

Our attention was drawn to a recent news story on statements made by notable people and international organizations on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Rohingya catastrophe. Reiterating their assurances, they all essentially stated that they will “continue efforts to find a durable solution to solve the man-made humanitarian disaster.”

A deadly military campaign that began in Rakhine, Myanmar, on August 25, 2017, forced almost a million displaced Rohingyas to seek sanctuary in Bangladesh. Since then, thousands of babies have been born, bringing the total to more than 1.2 million.

Beyond the Coup in Myanmar: A Crisis Born from Impunity

JUST SECURITY
Grant Shubin and Akila Radhakrishnan

May 18, 2021

(Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Just Security series on the Feb. 1, 2021 coup in Myanmar. The series brings together expert local and international voices on the coup and its broader context. The series is a collaboration between Just Security and the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School).

In his first speech since illegally attempting a coup d’etat, Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing told the people of Myanmar that, “no one is above the law.” He went on, “no one or no organization is above the national interest in state-building and nation-building.” But in reality, Min Aung Hlaing and indeed all of the military (Tatmadaw) are very much above the law in Myanmar.

Of the coup’s many potential causes, perhaps the most overt is that military leadership thought they could get away with it. The military’s constitutional insulation from civilian oversight and control, the failure thus far to hold them accountable for human rights abuses and international crimes, and even periodic cheerleading from the international community for a “democratic transition” emboldened the military into thinking that subverting the will of the people could be done without major consequence. To quote the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, “This crisis was born of impunity.”

People Displaced by Burma Army in Karen State Facing Crisis – Aid Workers Call for Food, Medicine, Clean Water to be Urgently Delivered

Karen News
07May 2021

Karen villagers bombed from their homes by airstrikes are in urgent need of food, warm clothing, medicine, sanitation and clean water. Adding to the difficulties of getting humanitarian aid to the displaced are official restrictions put in place by Thai authorities.

Karen Civil Society Organizations, delivering and providing assistance to people fleeing the Burma Army have confirmed about 7,000 Karen villagers from Papun district, northern Karen State are hiding in the Thai-Burma border area. The villages were destroyed by the Burma’s air force in retaliation for seizure of a military base on the 27th of April by the Karen National Liberation Army. It is estimated as many as 3,000 displaced Karen are reported to have fled into Thailand.

Desperate Burmese refugees flee to Thailand and India to escape crisis

The Guardian

Amrit Dhillon in New Delhi and Emma Graham-Harrison
Sat 3 Apr 2021 

Tensions rise on borders as thousands seek safe haven from military crackdown

Karen villagers being carried by refugees and Thai paramilitaries after crossing border at a Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Hong Son province. Photograph: Royal Thai Army Handout/EPA

Myanmar’s escalating crisis is spilling across its borders, as thousands of refugees seek safe haven in India and Thailand in the wake of the military coup and bloody crackdowns on anti-coup protesters.

Authorities in both countries have tried to block new arrivals, fearing that a steady flow may become a flood, if unrest spreading through Myanmar worsens. A top UN official warned last week that the country is “on the verge of spiralling into a failed state” if action is not taken soon to stem the bloodshed.

The catastrophic human costs of the regime’s brutal policies is visible in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees are living. Most fled after a military campaign that began in 2017, and have lived in limbo ever since.

Can India Turn the Rohingya Crisis’ Tide?

THE I DIPLOMAT

Anuttama Banerji
January 26, 2021

New Delhi shares moral as well as legal obligations in making sure it does its share to redress the humanitarian crisis.

India is not a party to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol since India believes “its borders are porous and any conflict can lead to mass movement of people” straining its limited resources. However, India has traditionally opened its doors to Tibetans and Afghan refugees. Therefore, its response to the Rohingya crisis catches us by surprise.

ASEAN Summit: A chance to engage on the Rohingya crisis

TheInetrpreter
Rebecca Barber Sarah Teitt
Published 17 Jun 2020


The regional body has been notably silent on genocide inMyanmar, ducking behind the myth of non-interference.

On 26 June, leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will meet virtually for their 36th semi-annual summit. The meeting is expected to include a focus on the re-opening of borders and economies post-pandemic, as well as discussions about the continuing tensions in the South China Sea and progress against the ASEAN 2015–2025 Community Building Blueprints.

Bangladesh: Chinese Envoy Rapped for Linking Rohingya Crisis to Economic Trade.

RADIO FREE ASIA  
2019-05-10

Chinese envoy to Bangladesh Zhang Zuo (center) answers questions during a news conference in Dhaka, May 8, 2019.

BenarNews

A Bangladeshi official and political observers on Friday criticized a statement by the Chinese ambassador, who suggested this week that the Rohingya refugee crisis could be solved through economic development in neighboring Myanmar’s Rakhine state.