UN FEARS for a likely repeat of the 2017 atrocities that Myanmar鈥檚 security forces committed against the Rohingyas in Rakhine State against the background of an unfolding tragedy now brings to the fore a couple of issues for the global forum itself and the world community to seriously consider. The UN human rights chief has voiced grave alarm about a sharply deteriorating situation across Myanmar, especially in Rakhine State, which is home to about 600,000 Rohingya people, where hundreds of civilians are reported to have been killed when they tried to flee fighting. The situation has exacerbated into clashes in Rakhine since the Arakan Army attacked forces of Myanmar鈥檚 ruling junta in November 2023, ending a ceasefire that had largely been held since a military coup in 2021. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas fled Rakhine in 2017 during a military crackdown, now the subject of a UN genocide court case. As the border crossings to Bangladesh remain closed, the Rohingyas find themselves trapped between the Myanmar military and its allies and the Arkan Army with no path to safety. The proposition is bad for the Rohingyas, about 700,000 of whom entered Bangladesh where the Rohingya population in shelters is more than one million.
This is also bad for the world community, which earlier said 鈥榥ever again鈥� but now appears to be failing again as killings, destruction and displacement are witnessed once again in Rakhine. Parties to the armed conflict in Rakhine, as the UN high commissioner for human rights says, are denying responsibility for attacks against the Rohingyas which 鈥榮tretches the bounds of cruelty.鈥� Such a situation is also bad for Bangladesh, where more than a million of the Rohingyas have lived in shelters and camps, with no past to fall back on and no future to look forward to. And, none of the Rohingyas could be repatriated to Rakhine State since August 2017 despite some efforts that petered out mostly because of Myanmar鈥檚 unwillingness and continued efforts that have created a fearful situation there to stop the Rohingyas from willingly returning. The United Nations, which earlier likened Myanmar鈥檚 persecution of the Rohingyas to 鈥榓 textbook example of ethnic cleansing,鈥� has, along with the international community, therefore, a role to play in preventing the deplorable situation that it fears in Rakhine State again especially now that it has already sensed what could be in store. The recurrence of the crimes and horrors that happened to the Rohingyas in the past should be prevented as a moral duty and legal necessity of the world community.
Whilst the world community should act to stop a repeat of the atrocities that Myanmar committed against the Rohingyas in 2017 and step up efforts on international forums for the repatriation of the Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh, Bangladesh authorities must redouble its efforts bilaterally, regionally and internationally for a resolution of the deteriorating situation in Rakhine State and the repatriation of the Rohingyas. Bangladesh authorities must also remain alert to any such efforts, perhaps by the adversaries, to create instability in the politically changed context of Bangladesh.
