The high-level conference on the Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar, convened on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, once again brings into attention a crisis that the world has allowed to aggravate for far too long. More than 1.3 million Rohingyas remain stranded in Bangladesh, with little hope for repatriation despite years of promises and pronouncement. The chief adviser to Bangladesh鈥檚 interim government, Muhammad Yunus, used the platform to restate the obvious but urgent truth that the Rohingya crisis originated in Myanmar and the solution lies in Myanmar. He also presented a practical and principled seven-point proposal to end the crisis. The proposal calls for a credible road map for safe and dignified repatriation, international pressure on both Myanmar authorities and the Arakan Army to end violence in Rakhine and confidence-building measures to enable Rohingya repatriation. The proposal also presses for enhanced donor funding to ensure humanitarian relief, accountability for crimes committed against the Rohingyas and the dismantling of the narco-economy that fuels instability in the border region. These points reflect not only Bangladesh鈥檚 just demand for burden-sharing but also the Rohingyas鈥� repeatedly expressed wish to return to their homeland.
The conference, however, also exposed the international community鈥檚 waning resolve. While some 70 countries and several international agencies participated, the absence of certain key neighbours, including India, is telling. Bangladesh, already strained economically, socially and environmentally, cannot be left to shoulder this crisis alone. International assistance has steadily declined, food rations for Rohingyas cut, learning centres closed and humanitarian operations curtailed for lack of funds. Such neglect intensifies the suffering of the displaced and increases risks of crime, instability and radicalisation. All efforts at repatriation have, meanwhile, come to nothing. Since 2017, neither discussions between Bangladesh and Myanmar nor the trilateral initiative involving China has achieved any tangible progress towards returning the Rohingyas to their homeland, aside from the verification of 180,000 individuals by the Myanmar authorities from a pre-selected list of 800,000 Rohingyas living in the camps in Bangladesh. For the Rohingyas, denied citizenship and the right to land in their own country, repatriation remains as distant as ever. Bangladesh鈥檚 warnings are, therefore, justified and the proposals principled. It is now the responsibility of the international community to match its rhetoric with actions and promises with resources.
The committed involvement of the international community and regional forums is, therefore, indispensable for resolving this protracted crisis. The international community must, therefore, heed Bangladesh鈥檚 appeal and move beyond symbolic gestures. This means sustained diplomatic pressure on Myanmar, funding of humanitarian operations and concrete steps to create the conditions for the Rohingya鈥檚 safe return. Anything less is complicity in prolonging the crisis.
