Myanmar must address the deepening Rohingya crisis
The sheer scale
of violence of human rights in
the case of ousting the Rohingyas has appalled the
entire world
Even after returning to democracy, Myanmar rulers have failed to come out of the same old shady path of perpetrating torture and killing on its Rohingya minority community. In fact, a cruel story of ethnic cleansing is going on there, clearly violating the democratic and genuine constitutional rights of its Rohingya Muslim citizens.
The sheer scale of violence of human rights in the case of ousting the Rohingyas has appalled the entire world. We in Bangladesh are not only shocked but also forced to shoulder a heavy burden for sheltering Myanmars Rohingya refugees for well over two decades now. First, we expect Myanmars new democratic regime to accept the fact that the civilised world is heavily condemning the ongoing barbarity on the Rohingya on its western part of the country, and second the regime must positively respond to this global condemnation.
Against the backdrop of such progressing crisis, the Bangladesh foreign ministry has naturally handed a letter to their envoy in Bangladesh expressing concern over the Rohingya. The Myanmar authorities must seriously handle the continuing predicament of this tortured community from a more democratic and humanitarian ground. We believe our foreign ministrys letter will be taken with due diligence.
About a year ago, after a historic election, Aung San Suu Kyi, the long-time democracy campaigner and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, became the de-facto ruler of Myanmar (State Counsellor), inspiring hope that she would bring an end to the Rohingyas suffering. Like many countries our expectation also ran high regarding a quick and positive resolution to the long-lasting Rohingya crisis. Unfortunately, with the passing days thats getting even graver. We are also concerned since Bangladesh is being directly hit with the deepening of the crisis, sheltering unforeseen refugees purely born out of our neighbouring countrys internal communal feuds. We expect that the Myanmar government would acknowledge this depressing fact and act accordingly.
Lastly, the only enduring solution for the government of Myanmar is to end the hostile policies that force so many Rohingya to flee. The claim that Rohingyas are recent arrivals is fictitious. Historical evidence candidly suggests that they are descendants of Muslim traders who have been in Myanmar for more than one hundred years. Why should they be subject to discrimination and chauvinism by the Buddhist majority there? They must be awarded the full rights given to all Myanmar citizens, and protected from abuses. Myanmar should stop denying the Rohingyasbasic rights.
