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65ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ
ROHINGYA ISSUES AND THE CHALLENGES OF BANGLADESH
Md S.I.
Md Sazedul Islam - Post Graduate Student, DEPARTMENT OF COMPARATIVE POLITICS PEOPLES' FRIENDSHIP UNIVERSITY OF RUSSIA, MOSCOW
Abstract: Rohingyas are an ethnic group who are connected to the history of British colony in Indian subcontinent. These people have been living in the place Rakhine (former name Arakan) for hundred years. They are Muslims in faith and culturally near to the Bengali culture as before colonial period Arakan was a combined kingdom with the Eastern part of Bengal (now this part is in the Bangladesh).After the independence of Burma in 1948 ( now Myanmar) Arakan became the part of Myanmar. In 1962 emergence of army coup and marshal law in Myanmar, brought misfortune for these people. Due to persecution, refusal to recognize as the citizens of Myanmar they have been pushed by the army ruler to the boarder of Bangladesh, claiming on their ethnic identity of Bengali. Since then a migration process of these people started in different neighboring countries, Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. In Bangladesh these people came in different times but last year the persecution has got the form of genocide which pulled them to escape from the Rakhine and crossed the boarder facing a hundred ofpeople killing, rape burning houses and so on. Bangladesh is trying to solve this problem diplomatically and expecting support of two ofpowerful neighbors India and China. In fact these two countries have close economical and geographical interest in Myanmar. Hence they are not willing to interfere the internal issues of this country. In this article the Author describes the historical background of Rohingyas and with the help of historical method analyzes the challenges of Bangladesh which has arisen from this problem. Keywords: Rohingya, persecution, genocide, refugee, diplomacy.
Historic background of Rohingya
The Rohingya are considered as the world's most persecuted minority [7]. They are an ethnic group, the majority of whom are Muslim and also some Hindues who have been living for centuries in the majority Buddhist Myanmar in Rakhaine reign, the former name Arakan. Arakan was a Bengali-speaking Muslim kingdom up to 1784.The British occupied Myanmar or Burma in 1826 and ruled the country untill 1948. When the British left, Arakan, also called Rakhaine [11].
From the historical evidence we know that rohingyas are living in Arakan since the 8thcentury, Embracing Islam during the 9thand 15thcenturies some of their Buddhist rulers in the medieval period adopted Islamic names and titles, and struck coins with Arabic and Persian inscriptions. For several centuries, Arakan and the Greater Chittagong(now a part of Bangladesh) had a common government, until the separation of the later in 1666 under the Mughal rulers of India. In 1784,Bodawpaya, a Buddhist Burman king annexed Arakan, which became a British territory, not long after they occupied Myanmar in 1826.Rohingyas in Arakan are not Bangladeshi intruders, rather more than 50 per cent of people of the district of Chittagong are descendants of Rohingya refugees from Arakan, who came and settled there since the Burman Buddhist annexation of the independent kingdom of Arakan in 1784. Historically Arakan and Bangladesh were parts of the bigger entity called Bengal, and they in the pre-British colonial days were at times together under the Mughals, or lived side by side as independent entities [17].
Before the Independence in January 1948, Muslim leaders from Arakan introduced themselves to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and asked his assistance in incorporating Arakan into Pakistan, considering their religious affinity and geographical
proximity with East Pakistan. Their proposal was refused by Mohammed Ali Zinna saying he was not in the position to interfere the internal matters of Burma After the independence from British colonial rule in 1948, U, Nu became the first Prime Minister of Burma and led the country by compromising with all ethnic groups, including Muslim Rohingya. ,Union Citizenship Act was passed, defining which ethnicities could gain citizenship. Though under this Act the Rohingya were not included[4] but until the military took over control in 1962, the Muslim population in Rakhine was not only socially better integrated, but also enjoyed the same civic rights as the Buddhist Rakhine[2].The president established the Mayu Frontier Administrative (MFA) comprising Maungdaw, Buthidaung and most part of the Rathedaung Township in Rakhine State (or Arakan) and allowed Muslims to peacefully live as equals and as citizens of Burma even there is evidence of having the representative of Rohingya in the parliament[10]
In 1962, General Ne Win staged a military coup in Myanmar. His ascendancy signaled the beginning of extremely hard time for the Rohingyas and other ethno-national minority groups in the country. All citizens were required to obtain national registration cards. The Rohingya, however, were only given foreign identity cards, which limited the jobs and educational opportunities they could pursue and obtain. Consequently, several hundred thousand Rohingyas left the country after 1962 in different countries of the world[1].
In 1978, a large-scale military operation took place in northern Arakan. Officially, it was against Rohingya insurgents, who had been fighting for an independent State, but actually it classified individuals living in Arakan as "citizens" and "illegal immigrants" from Bangladesh. Consequently, around 250,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh. Most of them later returned to Myanmer under UN supervision, and faced arbitrary arrests, rape, torture, and expropriation. Again in 1991-92 approximately 250,000 refugees fled from Myanmar"s western Rakhine state and this ethnic, linguistic and religious minority of the Myanmar community started living in the south east district of Cox"s Bazaar[8]
In 1982, a new citizenship law was passed, effectively rendering the Rohingya stateless[ 4]. Under the law, Rohingya were again not recognized as one of the country's 135 ethnic groups. The law established three levels of citizenship. In order to obtain the most basic level (naturalized citizenship), proof that the person's family lived in Myanmar before 1948 was needed, as well as fluency in one of the national languages. Many Rohingya lack such paperwork because it was either unavailable or denied to them. As a result of the law, their rights to study, work, travel, marry, practice their religion and access health services have been and continue to be restricted. The Rohingya cannot vote, and even if they navigate the citizenship test, they must identify as "naturalised" as opposed to Rohingya, and limits are placed on them entering certain professions such as medicine or law or running for office.
Since the 1970s, a number of crackdowns on the Rohingya in Rakhine State have forced hundreds of thousands to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, as well as Malaysia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. The_army of Myanmar carried out systematic killings and rape of several hundred Rohingya Muslims in Tula Toli village in Rakhine State on August 30, 2017[3] According to the most recently available data from the United Nations in May, more than 168,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since 2012.Following violence that broke out last year, more than 87,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh from October 2016 to July 2017 [15] How many people have been killed it is uncounted , majority of the migrated people are women and children and claim the death of their male members of their families.
Views of neighboring countries
In India 40000 thousand Rohingyas have been living with only 16000 people have refugee documents [16] and rest of them are illegal, recently since the massive killing in Myanmar, India didn't Allow any new refugees anymore suspecting security problems as there is a great possibilities to be used these people by the terrorist groups in India. The government has taken policy of pushing back these people ,unwilling to take responsibilities of these people to feed and for spending money for security, refusing the request of international and human rights organizations,. Actually India is more interested
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and giving more priority to secure their economical interest in Myanmar. With the Indian funding a port is being built in this area of Rakhine. India is planning to build a road through this area to Thailand for the communication with the south East Asian countries in order to increase business relation, therefore India does not want to untie their ties with Myanmar government . Indian prime minister declared his support on the activities of the Myanmar government in a visit in last year. Now after the massacre by the army of Myanmar, India remains silent and doesn't show any clear position about this issues[5]
Another powerful neighbor is China, a true friend of Myanmar for all the times. China has a large investment about 18 billion US dollars in Myanmar. China wants to built a port to strengthen their power in Bay of Bengal. They have invested for oil and gas sector and taking oil from Myanmar to China. Actually due to this economical interest with Myanmar they are in favor of the position of the Myanmar government[5].
This Rohingyas crisis has also touched in other neighbor countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. According to Kulnataporn Theeraratstit, Rohingya in Rakhine State are being violated by the Government of Myanmar and this is the main reason that makes them flee to Thailand while the human trafficking is a consequence of this event .Thailand has become the destination of a good number of Rohingyas .In 2012 after persecution a hundreds of Rohingyas went to Thailand to save their life ,and also Rohinghars are often victimized by of human traffickers to go to Malaysia through this root of Thailand. The majority of the Rohingya left Rakhine State only to seek a place where they could live peacefully. They paid to get on the boat at the beginning but they usually ended up at human trafficking camps both in Thailand and Malaysia. [10].
Indonesia and Malaysia also suffer for theses refugees. Some people also take attempt to reach Australia from Indonesia. Thailand ,Indonesia and Malaysia are concern about these issues and criticize the army role to drive away these people from their ancestors home.
Bangladesh is the most victim of these problem as the country share an easy way to cross the boarder by only a river. Which is easier way to escape from Myanmar. Another reason is that Rohingya speak a version of Chittagonian, a regional dialect of Bengali which is also used extensively throughout south-eastern Bangladesh[8] The culture and their language is almost similar with the people of Chittagong and cox bazar district of Bangladesh as we said before the British rule Rakhanie that means Arakan and Chittagong were a combined kingdom.
Bangladesh condemns the claim of the Myanmar government that these Rohingyas are migrated people from the Bangladesh. It is true in British period some people from India and Bangladesh were appointed to Myanmar or Burma for cultivation by the British but after the independence of Pakistan there is no any evidence to migrate people into this country[ 6] rather after the army coup in 1962, people started to cross the boarder not only in Pakistan and India but also in different parts of the world, Saudi Arabia, Arab and other Muslim countries. For an over populated country like Bangladesh these huge amount of Rohingyas are a national burden and has increased the economic, social and political crisis.
Challenges of Bangladesh to mitigate this problem
Rohingya issue in not a bilateral between Bangladesh and Myanmar rather it has become an international issues since the genocide and migration of thousands of people last year. In 16 November ,2017 in general assembly of UN, 135 countries except china ,Russia and India voted for securing the rights of the Rohingyas and to stop genocide. These voting was important for Bangladesh to know the views and getting support of the international communities for these refugees in the country.
Bangladesh is trying to solve these problems by a preventive diplomatic way that means the country unwilling to create a conflict between these two countries .Geographically Myanmar is also important for Bangladesh. Keeping peace Bangladesh tries to solve this problem by the connection and support of neighboring countries. India is one of the great friend of Bangladesh since independence but the silence and in explicit position of India regarding these issues and the declaration of support to Myanmar government has created a
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heavy situation for Bangladesh. On 6 and 7 September 2017, during the World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development in Indonesia, the Indian parliamentary delegation, led by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Indian Parliament), Sumitra Mahajan, dissociated itself from the Bali Declaration, which expressed "deep concern on the ongoing violence in the Rakhine State of Myanmar, [9] .This role of India has frustrated Bangladesh. Mahfooz Anam writes in his column that India has completely surprised Bangladesh by its all out endorsement of Myanmar's position. We, naively as it now appears, were hoping that Prime Minister Modi's visit to Myanmar would help, if not to solve issue but at least to stop the violence and ebb the flow of refugees. PM Modi's support to the Myanmar's position and the absence of any substantive reference to the refugee issue and the consequent humanitarian disaster has greatly disappointed[14]
China is one of our big business partner in Bangladesh is a ground of their a huge amount of investment. About Rohingya issue it becomes a more critical situation of Bangladesh as these two powerful and big countries India and China are supporting the Myanmar government which encourages to commit genocide and drive away these ethnic people.
It is true that China and India can play very important role to solve this problem. As due to indifferent behavior of India and china, Bangladesh is trying to get attention of Islamic countries ,OIC ,European union,western Countries. Turkish first lady had paid a visit the refugee camp last year . Bangladesh has got a good responds from Turkey, Iran ,Iraq and other Muslim countries. European union also are worried and observing the situation and continuous putting pressure to the Myanmar government to stop persecution and to get back their citizens.
Bangladesh is trying to contact with ASIAN and south Asian countries to get support to come in a conclusion in a peaceful way. Though in the last convention of ASIAN this issues was not discussed but Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand they are disquiet about this issues,
Bangladesh is also considering the role of Russia ,as they are a big partner of Myanmar to provide weapon and also the air force of Myanmar is depended on Russia. There are some Russian companies are in the Myanmar to search of oil and gas .A lot of students are being studied in Russia with scholarship in order to built a nuclear electronic power plant in Myanmar. So with Myanmar Russia contains a deep economic relation [13]
Since the liberation war of Bangladesh Russia is our one of great friend and having a good contact of economic and political relation, many of scholars suggest to involve Russia to solve this problem.
Actually the Rohingya crisis is an internal problem of Myanmar but the Myanmar government unjust fully pushing these people into Bangladesh and creating a critical social economical ,political and security problems. Therefore Myanmar should herself come forward to solve their own problem[ 12 ].
Conclusion
Bangladesh is a country with a lot of internal and external problems, The country was not ready to accept a big amount of people to rise a new problems ,already 200000 people had been living in the camp since 1991 and many of them entered into different times illegally .Actually this is a the last stage of the planing of Myanmar government to clean this ethnic group as we see this process had started since 1962 after the military coup. As Myanmar went under the military ruling for 50 years these people became always the victim of injustice ,killing, rape and persecution. After 2011 though a democratic government was established by the leader Aung San Suu kyi but all the power is confined in Army hence she has failed to find a new solution for this people to establish a democratic Myanmar .
For Bangladesh its a great challenge to feed and to ensure security for these million of people, many of scholars warn the possibilities of terrorist activities. Being not a rich country what has done , it is appreciated by the world but actually prediction of future is very difficult. Bangladesh is continuing to contact with the Myanmar government to solve these problems and to return their citizens. The government prefer to dispose this crisis
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diplomatically. Due to the international pressure finally Myanmar agreed to accept those who can prove their citizenship .When these people crossed the boarder without anything and their houses were burnt ,so it will be another obstacle to prove their citizenship as the government after 1982 canceled their ethnicity and started to rename as Bengali. If these people do not feel secure to go back, it will difficult to push them.
Recently china agreed to organize a conversation between Bangladesh and Myanmar ,Hopefully Bangladesh is expecting to get a good conclusion. Actually ,how many months it will take to return these huge people we don't know therefore it creates an uncertainty .Every day new people are coming ,which symbolizes that the situation inside the country are not suitable to return. First the Myanmar army should stop persecution and to ensure security only then the returning process can be started.
In our conclusion we can say that to solve this problem Bangladesh should follow these ways:
1. The country is trying to get support from the neighboring countries particularly from India and China, it is true that these two countries can play a very important role to solve this problems. The government should put intention in the connection with the other neighboring countries of south Asia, In the convention of ASIAN and other South Asian organizations ,Rohingya issues should be discussed. As well as the government must take help and support of other countries of SAARC as well as OIC and of course UN. This problem will be solved by a strong pressure of international communities on Myanmar government. The stateless Rohingyas must be returned back their own country as they are the citizen of Myanmar, international community should help in this issues.
2. In Myanmar majority people are Buddhist and historically there was not a good relation between these two religious groups which was started in the second world war when Burma was invaded by the Japanese army and these Muslim Rohingyas supported British .Recent time the army ruler used religion to legalize their persecution. As Bangladesh has a good number of Buddhist people and leaders, government should emphasize to visit and improve relation with the religious leaders of Myanmar ,if possible this issues can be discussed with the most biggest leader of Buddhism Dalai Lama in Tibbot, requesting to visit Bangladesh and Myanmar to resolve hatred and enmity among the Buddhist people in Myanmar. Because there is evidence in many countries religious leaders played role to resolve conflict.
3. Bangladesh government should help to organize a leadership from the Rohingya refugees so that they can themselves present their conditions to the world community to get justice.
References
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