The world condemns genocide in Myanmar

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nicky Haley has called upon the Myanmar government to cooperate with a UN mission in probing abuses by its military and security forces.  She also urged the international community to stand together. Ambassador of the United Kingdom Matthew Rycroft urged the Security Council to discuss reports of mass civilian casualties due to raids by the Myanmar security forces against Rohingya militants. The Security Council condemned killings on both sides but did not make any strong statement because of insistence by the Chinese Ambassador to the UN. (However, conflicts between Kachin ethnic minorities and Myanmar military occasionally spill over the Chinese border.) 

Apart from the Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom, Turkish, Iranian and Indonesian Presidents criticised world leaders for their lukewarm stands against the Myanmar government. The Turkish President praised Bangladesh for providing shelter to Rohingya Muslims. The Foreign Minister of Indonesia also visited Bangladesh to discuss about plight of Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar who took shelter in Bangladesh and Malaysia. It is now high time that the world body made an all-out effort to stop the pogrom of minority Rohingyas in Rakhine State by armed forces of Myanmar known as Tatmadaw. The pogrom resembles tactics adopted by Nazi Germany against the Jewish minority.  Attacks which began on August 25 are the latest incursion of Myanmar's armed forces on the pretext of killing of one soldier and six police personnel and civilians including Rohingyas by Rohingya militants as reported by the office of the Myanmar State Counsellor.

According to BBC, more than 10,000 Rohingya refugees entered Bangladesh since army operation began in Rakhine State. Accusing the Myanmar authorities of ethnic cleansing, the International Organisation for Migration (IoM)  reported that about 18,500 Rohingyas crossed into Bangladesh. New York-based Human Rights Watch said satellite photos appear to show widespread burning in ten areas of north Rakhine State. The World Food Programme of United Nations reported that 80,000 Muslim Rohingya children are starving in Rakhine State.

In retrospect, Rohingyas were expelled from Myanmar by the military junta under General Ne Win in 1979. As many as 200,000 were given shelter by Bangladesh on humanitarian grounds. A diplomatic manoeuvre by Bangladesh to convince friendly countries succeeded in putting pressure on Myanmar to take back Rohingyas. A bilateral agreement was signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar for the repatriation of the refugees. Within a span of 16 months, they were repatriated back to Myanmar. In 1982, the Burmese government  made an amendment to the citizenship law which took away citizenship of Rohingyas. 

The Rohingyas again became victims of Myanmar military junta in 1990 when the junta conducted an operation to eliminate alleged illegal immigrants from the country. The military junta concentrated on the Rakhine State to drive out  Rohingyas. Local Buddhists, along with the military, attacked Rohingyas which caused 270,000 of them to flee by March of 1990 from Myanmar to Bangladesh.

Present Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres had discussions on July 12 of 2012 as UN High Commissioner for Refugees with Myanmar's immediate past President General Thein Sein to find a solution of ethnic enmity. He told the UN High Commissioner for Refugees that the problem of ethnic enmity would be solved if they are either sent to a third country or have the UNHCR to look after them. This meant General Thein Sein  walked away from his commitment to take back Rohingyas from Bangladesh. This commitment was made to Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina when she paid a visit to Myanmar in December of 2011.

It is doubtful whether the recommendation of the Independent Commission led by former Secretary-General of  UN Kofi Annan to resolve the chronic crisis in Rakhine State would be implemented by the office of the State Counsellor of Myanmar. When the Commission was set up last year, Tatmadaw-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), now branded as MA BA Tha, an Islamophobic monk organisation, and the Rakhine nationalists jointly rejected formation of the Commission which was seen as an intervention by foreigners in internal affairs of Myanmar.

The writer is a retired Bangladeshi diplomat.

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