Expediting the process of Rohingyas' repatriation to Myanmar

The latest Security Council consensus statement, the fourth in a row in course of last three months, is the most comprehensive, substantive and explicit one, providing a framework of roadmap for speedy repatriation process of Rohingyas to their home in Myanmar. The statement is clear and forthright with no scope for ambiguity or equivocation and calls upon all parties of the crisis to get down to business in right earnest in cooperation with the UN and other relevant international organisations immediately.

The Security Council strongly condemned the violence that has caused more than 600,000 Rohingyas to flee Myanmar to Bangladesh.  The statement called on Myanmar to ensure no further excessive use of military force in Rakhine state and expressed grave concern at human rights violation. It stressed the importance of bringing those responsible for human rights violation account.

Britain, backed by France and the US, initially circulated a Security Council resolution of similar language. But the resolution was legally binding and China strongly opposed it. So Britain and France turned the resolution into a presidential statement which nonetheless remains the strongest Security Council statement ever on the issue, albeit without the clout and weight of a resolution. 

The most important operative paragraph in the statement is one which urges the government of Myanmar to work with the government of Bangladesh and the UN to allow the voluntary return of all refugees in condition of safety and dignity to their homes in Myanmar.  The statement also urges Myanmar and Bangladesh to invite the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other relevant international organisations to participate fully in the joint working group for implementation of repatriation process.

This last proposal rankled in the mind of Myanmar which sharply reacted that UN involvement would seriously affect the current bilateral negotiations. This argument is ridiculous as it wants the joint working group to remain confined to bilateral negotiations between Bangladesh and Myanmar. 

The reason why Myanmar's de facto leader Suu Kyi has denounced the Security Council proposal as an undue pressure on her country is not far to seek. Myanmar wants to pursue a policy of foot-dragging, soft peddling and subterfuge through bilateral protracted talks. Does she want to thwart and frustrate the repatriation process on one pretext or another? Her four conditions of verifying the bona fide of residence in Myanmar of Rohingya refugees is a case in point. The plight of Rohingyas is now fully internationalised and its solution involves participation of international community. There is no getting away from it.

Now, during the forthcoming visit of Foreign Minister A. H. Mahmood Ali to Myanmar, he should insist on the participation of UNHCR and other relevant international organisations in the joint working group as stipulated in the Security Council statement and not fall into the trap of bilateral negotiations as laid down by Myanmar as a delaying tactics.

The pressure on Myanmar is mounting. The 3rd Committee of the UN General Assembly is scheduled to pass a resolution soon on the  Rohingya crisis seeking early repatriation of the Rohingyas to their homes in Myanmar. The Security Council statement also asked the UN Secretary General to appoint a special representative to supervise the repatriation process and to report progress on the matter to the Security Council after 30 days. Unless Myanmar wishes to be consigned once again to the status of an international pariah, it should heed the counsels of world body and the international public opinion.

The writer is a former diplomat.

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