5 years after mass exodus from Myanmar, fate of Rohingya still hangs in balance

By Md. Kamruzzaman

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AA) – The one-hour journey from Dhaka to Cox’s Bazar by air crossing over the Bay of Bengal and many rivers in the delta nation of Bangladesh is worth enjoying and remembering. The rest of the way from the airport to the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar is also wonderful as the beauty of the sea is on one side and the hills covered with green trees on the other side always attract visitors.

This is the common short narration given by most of the foreigners and international aid workers who have been frequenting the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh’s southeastern district of Cox’s Bazar bordering Myanmar.

But after such a picturesque journey, whenever one reaches the camps, he/she will be dismayed by seeing the subhuman living conditions there, a congested environment with mostly packed tents made of bamboo and tarpaulin sheets, and limited sanitation facilities.

A large hilly site, which was once the living place of forest elephants, is now home to above 1.2 million persecuted Rohingya, most of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in August 2017 in their home country of Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

Though Bangladesh initially barred the genocide survivors from entering its territory, later it allowed the exodus on humanitarian grounds.

Since then the oppressed people have been living in crammed makeshift settlements, divided into 34 camps and also considered to be the world’s largest refugee camp.

After crossing several security checkpoints, this Anadolu Agency correspondent reached the stateless people at camp no. 12 to learn about their life and struggles in Bangladesh, a South Asian overcrowded nation of 165 million.

- Tired of stateless life

Mohammad Enamullah, 50, the father of four children, told Anadolu Agency that they are grateful to the Bangladeshi government and its people for their hospitality and humanity at a time when their own government was mercilessly murdering them.

“We are here safer than Myanmar. But we have not come here forever as stateless people. We have no future here, no future for our new generation,” Enamullah said on the eve of the 5th anniversary of the Rohingya exodus in Bangladesh to be observed on Aug. 25, 2022.

Two of his four children were born in Bangladesh’s camp. “I am really worried about the future of my children.”

The makeshift tent of Enamullah is located on a hillslope, always facing the risk of being damaged by mudslides in rough weather.

“It’s not the life of a human being. What is our fault? Why are we out of our country where we had been living for many generations?” Enamullah’s wife Morium Begum, 40, said with an emotional tone, holding her youngest baby. Their other children were playing on the muddy ground.

She added that they had croplands, cattle, a good house, and other properties in Myanmar when the members of the “killer” Tatmadaw (the official name of the Myanmar army) launched a brutal clearance operation in the guise of anti-insurgent operations.

The United Nations and many others have branded it as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” while the United States and dozens of human rights organizations have marked it as “genocide.” A genocide case filed by the African state of Gambia is also on trial at the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“But we are tired of our stateless life with no significant progress of repatriation to our home country of Myanmar with dignity, safety, and the long-cherished citizenship rights,” Rohingya community leader, Master Abdur Rahim, told Anadolu Agency.

Once a school teacher in his home country, Rahim added that the international community should not be “so slow” in resolving the Rohingya crisis for the greater interest of the whole region.

- No visible hope of repatriation

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) in November 2017 over the peaceful repatriation of Rohingya. But, not a single member of the ousted community has been repatriated in the last five years.

Even two formal attempts of starting the repatriation have failed since 2017 as without citizenship rights and safety guarantees under the UN, the traumatized Rohingya are not ready to go back.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, even after her first-ever visit to Bangladesh last week, did not sound any hope of peaceful repatriation in near future.

In a press conference in the capital Dhaka on Aug. 17, following her day-long visit to the Rohingya camps, she openly pointed out the lack of due environment for the repatriation.

“Unfortunately, the current situation across the border means that the conditions are not right for returns. Repatriation must always be conducted in a voluntary and dignified manner, only when safe and sustainable conditions exist in Myanmar,” Bachelet said.

She, however, added: “The international community must sustain its support to Bangladesh in its response, and press Myanmar to create conditions for return, address the root causes, and pursue accountability.”

Now, the question of thousands of Rohingya to the world leaders – how long will their fate hang in the balance before the conscience of a civilized world that frequently shouts on human rights and justice?