Rohingyas: panacea to their plight

BANGLADESH, a poor country, with inadequate cultivable land and resources and a population of about 170 million, has extended an affable and welcome approach towards the Rohingyas of Rakhine state in Myanmar. Bangladesh earned praise for its compassionate approach to providing humanitarian assistance to over half a million displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh. However, this is also true that Bangladesh cannot alone bring a solution to this Rohingya crisis. Moreover, the Rohingya influx in Bangladesh has invited various socio-economic problems in Bangladesh like security threats, environmental problems, smuggling of narcotic drugs and arms. 
As we all know that there has been a lot of focus on why the conflicts actually took place in Myanmar; whether the Rohingyas are to be classified as ‘intruders ‘or ‘refugees’ in Bangladesh or whether the heinous acts and the persecution of Rohingyas should be classified as genocide or ethnic cleansing. Solutions to the crisis have also been proposed but we are yet to implement a successful and realistic panacea to this intrinsic problem. Although, the Rohingyas who have safely crossed the shore are provided essential protection and assistance in Bangladesh, this does not entail a long-lasting solution. What still remains in the grey area is the future of the Rohingyas and their children; their ability to secure a source of revenue; their access to the justice and their rights as citizens. 
Piecemeal attempts to embark upon a solution are not enough and what is required is extensive burden sharing from affluent countries, safe repatriation process and a more pro active approach from the international community and neutral organisations like the United Nations. When talking about burden sharing, Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen and Nikolas F Tan in their paper titled, ‘The End of the Deterrence Paradigm? Future Directions for Global Refugee Policy’, poignantly highlights that a meaningful responsibility has to be taken by the international community. It is of paramount importance that we deal with the fact that there is an unequal distribution when it comes to taking refugee responsibility. Therefore, there should be a stronger obligation for international community with regards to the sharing of responsibility of the refugees, eg, through resettlement, humanitarian visas, or global and regional distribution mechanisms, or on the sharing of resources, such as humanitarian assistance, expert staff, know-how, and money. A critical Pledging Conference in Geneva was held on October 23, 2017, organised by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, International Organisation for Migration and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the event was co-hosted by the European Union and Kuwait. It was organised with an aim to provide the governments from around the world an opportunity to show their solidarity and share the burden and responsibility. It was discussed that their further generous support for the Joint Response Plan, which was launched by the UN and partners, is urgently needed to sustain and scale up the large humanitarian effort already under way. It was also discussed that the plan requires $434 million to meet the life-saving needs of all Rohingya refugees and their host communities — together an estimated 1.2 million people — for the difficult months to come. In a statement on the Rohingya refugee crisis, the UNHCR stated that they call on the international community to intensify efforts to bring a peaceful solution to the plight of the Rohingya, to end the desperate exodus, to support host communities and ensure the conditions that will allow for refugees’ eventual voluntary return in safety and dignity. The origins and, thus, the solutions to this crisis lie on Myanmar.
Bangladesh needs more foreign investment as well and international community can help Bangladesh to build up a stronger economy through investing in Bangladesh. It will eventually heighten trade opportunities and generate employment opportunities for the Bangladeshi citizens and the Rohingyas in Bangladesh in the long run. Scholars and refugee advocates worldwide have suggested a general distribution model, with quotas based on each country’s population size, GDP, unemployment rates, etc. Adherence to such a model indubitably ensures fairness among countries and embraces the concept of burden sharing unreservedly. Unfortunately, India which is one the fastest growing economies with a GDP of 7.2 per cent (IMF, 2017) refuses to give refuge to the Rohingyas, while Bangladesh with a GDP of 6.6 per cent (IMF, 2017) opens its doors and bears the responsibility of providing shelter to the stateless Rohingyas.
The Rohingyas who do not wish to be repatriated could be resettled in affluent countries who wish to accept them, ensuring them their basic human rights. However, with most of the Rohingyas being illiterate, it is highly unlikely that the developed nations would be willing to accept them. Therefore, the Rohingyas could be given vocational training to make them suitable candidates for countries wishing to accept them.
Although, repatriation, as a solution seems bleak, it could be an effective one with the help from the international community and international sanctions. On 6 November, 2017; the Security Council in their 8085th meeting, expressed that the primary responsibility of protecting the Rohingyas lies on the government of Myanmar. The Security Council of the United Nations also emphasised the importance of reform in security and justice sectors in the country’s transition to democracy. It urged the Myanmar government to work with Bangladesh and the United Nations to allow the voluntary return of refugees in conditions of safety and dignity to their homes, on the basis of an October 24 memorandum of understanding between the two countries. In that meeting the representative of Bangladesh thanked the Council for a comprehensive statement, which could be a building block towards the timely and critical action that was needed. It was acknowledged that time was of the essence in this situation. 
If we look at Balfour Declaration, we see that the persecuted Jewish People had been given a national home in the land of Palestine. Despite the fact that Britain had no sovereign rights over Palestine or any proprietary interest, it disposed off the land of the Palestinians, embracing the concept of Zionism. Why then is it so difficult to return to the Rohingyas, their land, that is rightfully theirs? However, it is also true that their right to return to their home safely can only be possible in the diplomatic way. Myanmar should be subject to international sanctions and pressure should be put on them. Neutral Organisations like the UN should closely monitor the whole repatriation process. The international community as a whole should be more proactive in this regard and not be fooled by the phony promises that Myanmar makes when it comes to repatriation of the displaced and most persecuted refugees- the Rohingyas. In the event, they do not comply with their obligation Myanmar should be subject to strict international sanctions.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net