Hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas had fled in fear of their lives

Bangladesh has extended all possible assistance to the Rohingyas, given the violence and persecution unleashed on the community in Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas had fled in fear of their lives from their homeland into Bangladesh. However, the international community has not reacted as it should have to the ethnic cleansing and the genocide being carried out in Myanmar. At the UN Security Council meet on Wednesday, the oppression of the Rohingyas was condemned and a call was made to halt the atrocities. The situation has reached such proportions, that it is not enough to merely condemn and issue statements.

It is clear that the Myanmar government has adopted a policy of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingyas. The Rohingyas are being driven from the country in a planned manner. This is an international crime, according to the UN Charter and other such charters. Already 400,000 Rohingyas had been sheltering in Bangladesh and now another 370,000 or more have been added. It is unfortunate that Bangladesh for no reason at all, it having to bear the burden of this burgeoning number of refugees. And yet here is no effective initiative being taken against Myanmar for this international crime.

As Myanmar has failed to provide its citizens with security and a certain ethnic community is victims of genocide, the international community including the UN must take responsibility to protect them. The Bangladesh government has highlighted the situation to the ambassadors of various countries and heads of international agencies. The international community is well aware of what is taking place there. The UN secretary general Antonio Guterres himself has termed this ‘ethnic cleansing’.

The Myanmar government itself had formed an international commission to look into the problems of the Arakan state. If the recommendations of that commission, headed by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, were followed, then the Rohingya problems would be resolved to a great degree. The international community now must force Myanmar into implementing those recommendations. Bangladesh’s prime minister has proposed a separate safe zone for the Rohingyas. With astute and proper diplomatic handling of the situation, it will not be too difficult to resolve the crisis.