by Titilope Adebanjo
Meet the Rohingya
The Rohingya are the world’s largest group of people who lack statehood, not being citizens of either Myanmar or any other nation. They are unable to freely travel or work without a nationality. They additionally struggle to obtain formal schooling. In many waves of emigration since the late 1970s, nearly a million Rohingya have left the turmoil in Myanmar.
In 2017, hundreds of thousands of individuals were compelled to leave their homes in search of safety as a result of the Rohingya persecution by the Burmese military. They endured perilous boat voyages over the Bay of Bengal or days-long treks through deadly forests and mountains. They arrived drained, starving, and ill. Over 943,000 people fled for their lives to Cox Bazar. In the Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh, the majority of individuals who arrived sought shelter in and around the refugee camps of Kutupalong and Nayapara in need of humanitarian protection from the international community. Some joined family, but most arrived without anything.
Three times a Refugee
Apparently, the displacement and human right violation of the Rohingya is one the Myanmar government derives pleasure in carrying out. The act of displacing the Rohingya is a normal practice of the Myanmar government as Gul Zahar has been displaced three times. Gul and other victims have had to relive this horrible events which she experienced first in 1978, 1991 and 2017. This begs the question- how many displacement should one have to go through in a lifetime? In a saner clime, no one should ever have to be displaced let alone experiencing the terror three times.
Evidently, the continuous cruelty displayed by the Myanmar government is because of the unbothered attitude and weakness exhibited by the international community; their inability to bring to justice and demand accountability for the atrocities that is being committed. Gul and her generations yearn to go back to their country if only there will be peace.
Cox Bazar- Not a safe haven, not home!
Overnight, more unplanned villages sprang. The volume of the inflow put strain on the local population and already overburdened facilities and services. Yet throughout the crisis, the Bangladeshi government showed generosity, and the local Bangladeshis welcomed the newcomers and made every attempt to assist them. However, there has been recent increases in Bangladeshi government restrictions on mobility, livelihood, and education which leaves many migrants feeling unwanted and in danger. The government has imposed additional travel restrictions, shuttered community-run schools, and demolished stores at random.
Authorities in Bangladesh have relocated roughly 28,000 Rohingya to Bhasan Char, where they are subject to harsh mobility restrictions, lack of food and medicine, and maltreatment from security personnel.
On the 22 March 2021, an extensive fire ravaged the Cox’s Bazar camp housing thousands of Rohingya Muslims. Thousands of Rohingya refugees were rendered homeless as a devastating fire tore through a huge refugee camp in southern Bangladesh, authorities and witnesses reported. The fire destroyed hundreds of shelters. Reportedly, the fire at the Balukhali camp in the Cox’s Bazar region started at around 3 o’clock, in block D of Camp 8W and due to the impact of the wind, spread swiftly across at least four blocks. Data provided by the camp management shows that 339 individuals were missing and 563 people from the affected camps have been injured. According to estimates, there were about 10,000 destroyed shelters in addition to important facilities for the camp’s residents’ health, education, and water supply. There have been 11 recorded deaths, and 55,000 people have been displaced. Refugees who were moved with family, friends, or in buildings like learning centres for shelter or temporary housing lost their possessions, including registration certificates. Thousands of Rohingya refugees lost everything again.
An investigation team looking into the fire says allegedly that the fire was a deliberate act of sabotage. While some believed that the rapid escalation of the fire was caused by crowded circumstances in the densely populated community, Abu Sufian believes otherwise. The seven-member panel led by senior district government official Abu Sufian, who stated that the fire broke out simultaneously in many locations around the refugee camp, indicating that it was a deliberate act. Although there had previously been a number of fires in the camp community, including two occurrences in January 2021 due to situations of extreme congestion in the settlement, yet, the top official claimed that this latest fire was an intentional attempt by militant organizations to gain dominance inside the camps. Nowhere seems safe for the Rohingya, not Myanmar not Cox Bazar. Indeed they are the most persecuted community in the world.
The United Nations Security Council
The UNSC ,one of the five major institutions founded by the UN charter in its functions and powers is to secure international peace, eliminate any form of threat while taking military and economic actions against aggressors. However, it has demonstrated everything but that against the oppressors of the Rohingya. It is interesting to know that Myanmar is a member state of the UN and for some reasons unknown, the UN has failed to keep its house in order.
How does an institution that represents justice, equality, diversity still retains an abuser and an unrepentant violator as its member? It is very disappointing that the UNSC did not intervene in a way that would stop the genocidal treatment of the Rohingya by firstly stopping the supply of money and weapons to the Burma military.
The Resolution mentions resolving the underlying issues causing the Rohingya crisis and safe voluntary return for refugees, but it doesn’t include any concrete means to make those things happen.
Tun Khin, President of Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK while addressing the ineffective response of the UNSC opines that there are no repercussions against those culpable for genocide, nor is there any referral to the International Criminal Court. While doing little to save Rohingya migrants trapped for weeks on a wrecked boat, UN Security Council members talk about protecting them.
The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on December 21, 2022 (Resolution 2669 2022). A vote on the Myanmar crisis was carried out resulting in 12 votes in favor, 0 votes against, and 3 abstentions (China, India, and the Russian Federation). It is exceedingly doubtful that this resolution will serve as a springboard for the Security Council to take effective action given China and Russia’s veto positions. who would have thought that members with permanent seat would abstain from a vote that has a sensitive matter attached to it.
The international organization’s and procedures established to preserve international law and advance peace are failing to do their jobs. Not only is it crucial to guarantee accountability for the crimes committed, but it also serves to discourage such offences in the future. The estimated 600,000 Rohingya who still live in Myanmar are forbidden from identifying as Rohingya and continue to have their freedom of movement, access to healthcare, and education restricted.
A glimmer of hope?
In 2019, The Gambia filed a case with the International Court of Justice- Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar). As much as this can be said to be a step in the right direction, it is quite disheartening that for an institution of 193 members, just one country took it upon itself to pursue justice for Rohingya.
The International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) directive to Myanmar to stop all crimes of genocide against Rohingya Muslims, which was issued on January 23, 2020 purposely for safeguarding the surviving Rohingya in Rakhine State is quite applaudable though it has not yielded any result.
Anthony Blinken the US Secretary of State in a statement released in March 2022 officially recognizing the atrocities against the Rohingya as genocide gave the Rohingya people some joy.
With the proclamation made by the US Secretary of State calling out the Myanmar government for the atrocities committed, one would think that the UNSC would act quickly especially when its coming from a member of the seat of veto. Enacting the laws stated in the Genocide convention should have been the next line of action but this was not the case. True to their word, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Major General Min Aung Hlaing and other prominent generals but other nations refused to follow suite. This shows how the amount of disunity in the system and how the law of sanctity of live is not revered.
Was it really Genocide?
According to international investigations, the State of Myanmar is accountable for thousands of Rohingya deaths as well as other violations of the Genocide Convention “an endeavor to destroy this community, in whole or in part.
The determination of genocide includes taking into account three key factors: a. specific acts of violence (b) perpetrated against a protected group (c) and (d) the intention to completely or partially eradicate this group. The first two criteria for genocide are readily met when it comes to the atrocities against Muslims from the Rohingya ethnic group in Burma. The determination of whether a crime constitutes genocide depends, as is frequently the case, on whether there is sufficient evidence of the excess of intent required by the crime. Therefore, it must meet the applicable standard of proof that either the regime in question intends to eradicate the group, in whole or in part or people who have the necessary authority, are doing the above offences with that particular intention.
Genocide declaration, to what end?
It is essential to pinpoint the cause of the genocide and declare Myanmar to be accountable for the horrible crime. Classification of the crime as genocide will make efforts at accountability stronger by recognizing the crime for what it is.
Surveys by Physicians for Human Rights and Doctors without Borders found that the attacks claimed the lives of at least 6,000 Rohingya. The U.S. State Department conducted a poll of 1,024 Rohingya refugees and discovered that 40% of them had been sexually assaulted by Burmese security personnel. According to the study’s findings, the violence was “severe, pervasive, and intended to terrorize the population as well as drive away the occupants of Rohingya.
A disclosure of a genocide would generate much-needed international attention and help prevent further atrocities as genocide against Rohingya is quite likely. Absence of international spectator is a key risk factor for horrific crimes. A pledge to commit genocide would directly warn Myanmar that it is being scrutinized at a time when crucial issues about ongoing crimes are being raised.
A categorization would aid in preserving and increasing global interest, which might lead to increased international pressure and possibly even targeted multilateral sanctions. With nations like Bangladesh sheltering Rohingya refugees and Rohingya still living in Burma, a declaration of genocide against Myanmar will signify worldwide unification.
Justice! When?
The lawsuit has been postponed for years, and every day the genocide goes on. The UK claims to be the world leader on Burma, but the country that has been leading is Gambia, not the UK. Will the perpetrators of rape, arson, massacres continue to walk freely and victims will never get closure?
In the words of Cate Blanchett while addressing the UNSC on the Rohingya Refugee Crisis
“Mr. President, Together, we need to change the future of Laila, of Yousuf, of Gul Zahar and of all the Rohingya living in Myanmar, in Bangladesh and beyond. There are no short cuts. There are no alternatives. We have failed the Rohingya before. Please, let us not fail them again”.
Questions
With all that has been established, some of the questions that continue to surface in this situation are:
a. Why did the UNSC not use its office in restoring peace and ensuring securitization of Rohingya before the latest displacement in 2017?
b. Having proven beyond doubts that the government of Myanmar has committed genocide against the Rohingya, why has there not been sanctions yet? why is there still delay in justice.
c. People believe that the unwillingness of the UNSC to respond using sanctions to the Myanmar genocide may send signals that the institution is weak hence promoting violence of this nature in other countries. How would you address that?