by Jonah Blank and Shelly Culbertson
January 5, 2018
A Rohingya refugee looks at the moon with a child in tow at Balukhali refugee camp, Bangladesh, December 3, 201Photo by Susana Vera/Reuters
Since August, an estimated 650,000 Rohingyas, out of a population of a
million, have fled from Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh to escape a
campaign of arson, rape, and murder believed to have been orchestrated
by the Myanmar military. In late November, the government of Myanmar
agreed to let these refugees return—although not to their homes, and at a
pace that could drag out the process for a generation. Even if this
offer was honored—and there is plenty of reason for skepticism—it would
hardly be cause for celebration: Myanmar does not seem to have made any
genuine commitment to address the causes of the flight, which U.S.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has described as “ethnic cleansing.”