Myanmar Has Not Taken Back a Single Rohingya in 9 Years
8,000 acres of forest land destroyed in Cox's Bazar
By Bhanu Ranjan Chakraborty
DHAKA: The Rohingya influx that began in Bangladesh on August 25, 2017, in the face of the country’s military operation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, has completed nine years. Despite various initiatives by the United Nations and international circles during this long period, not a single Rohingya has been able to be safely sent back to Myanmar.
On the contrary, as the conflict between the Arakan Army and the Myanmar army intensifies in Rakhine, more than 150,000 new Rohingya have entered Cox’s Bazar in the last two years.
Local residents say that in the long nine years, the activities of armed groups focused on establishing dominance in the Rohingya camps, extortion and drug smuggling have increased alarmingly. Just as ordinary Rohingyas live in fear due to the conflict between armed groups, aid workers also suffer from insecurity.
According to police data, more than 250 cases have been filed in the first eight months of this year on various charges including murder, drugs, kidnapping and rape.
Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has reduced the monthly food allocation for the Rohingya from $12.50 to $6 per capita due to a decline in international donations. Officials from the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, Relief and Repatriation have warned that further cuts in allocations could lead to malnutrition and maternal mortality, especially among women and children.
A report has found that in the past nine years, around 8,000 acres of forest have been destroyed in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhia-Teknaf districts due to deforestation, tree clearing and settlement, and firewood collection. This is putting local biodiversity at risk.
Experts say that despite several bilateral discussions and pilot lists being prepared in the last nine years, not a single Rohingya has been sent back to Myanmar. Bangladesh has sent a total of 828,824 Rohingya information to Myanmar in several rounds.
Myanmar said that the information of 426,545 of them has been verified. Of the verified people, 388,797 have been recognized as former residents of Rakhine. The Myanmar government recently said in a statement that no one will be taken back until the security situation in Rakhine improves.
At an event organized by the International Rescue Committee in Dhaka to mark the ninth anniversary of the Rohingya crisis, experts said the international community must work together to ensure the return of the Rohingya.
Representatives of international relief agencies said at the event that a new and coordinated strategy is needed to deal with the Rohingya crisis as funding has dwindled and global attention has shifted to other crises.
Experts say that the Rohingya crisis has become one of the world’s most protracted refugee crises as repatriation has not begun even after nine years.
Restoring stability in Rakhine, maintaining effective international pressure on Myanmar, and expanding resettlement opportunities in third countries—these three paths must move forward together.
