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A massive gathering of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people to observe two years of their latest exodus from Rakhine at a field in Camp No 4 (Extension) at Kutupalong's Modhurchhara in Ukhiya on Sunday, August 25, 2019. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune ![]()
It has been two years since the beginning of the "clearance operations" by the Myanmar[1] military that forced over 700,000 Rohingya fleeing into Bangladesh, and August 25th has been marked by the Rohingya in the camps as 'Genocide Day.' Offering an insight into the depravity and cruelty of the violence inflicted upon civilians, the UN-mandated Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (IIFFMM) published its second report of the month, this time documenting the widespread and systematic use of rape and sexual violence by the Myanmar military against ethnic women, girls, men, boys, and transgender people as a "tactic of war". It is thus of no surprise that a planned return of over 3,450 Rohingya from Bangladesh to Myanmar was a total disaster, with nobody turning up to participate in the organized return. It has been two years since the start of this wave of violence and when the sprawling network of refugee camps in Bangladesh that is the current home of nearly one million Rohingya refugees drastically expanded. To mark the occasion, 200,000 Rohingya refugees living in the camps staged peaceful rallies and prayers, calling for their rights, and holding placards saying "Never again." Yet, while humanitarian aid has been provided to the camps, the conditions remain dire. As a statement by mostly international NGOs working in the camps articulated, "With shrinking funds and continued restrictions on refugees' access to education and livelihoods, the crisis is likely to worsen." Despite these dire conditions, most of the Rohingya do not dare to go back home. The violence they faced, and the very real possibility that they could face that again, means that the Rohingya would rather stay in such conditions than risk going back to Myanmar unless their fundamental rights, including freedom of movement, citizenship and security are guaranteed. The nature of the violence they suffered was laid bare by the IIFFMM, which on 22 August 2019, published a new report based on interviews with hundreds of survivors and witnesses of sexual violence in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States. The report concluded that the Myanmar military "demonstrated its genocidal intent against the Rohingya population 'through the widespread and systematic killing of women and girls, the systematic selection of women and girls of reproductive ages for rape, attacks on pregnant women and on babies, the mutilation and other injuries to their reproductive organs, the physical branding of their bodies by bite marks on their cheeks, neck, breast and thigh, and so severely injuring victims that they may be unable to have sexual intercourse with their husbands or to conceive and leaving them concerned that they would no longer be able to have children.'" This was a follow-up to its report in early August 2019 that detailed the Myanmar military's web of economic interests that serves to sustain its economic power and fuel the atrocities that it commits against ethnic minorities. Given this violence, it is of no surprise that an organized return of 3,450 Rohingya refugees, planned between the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh, did not come to fruition. Not one Rohingya turned up to be escorted back to Myanmar, with the community citing the total lack of consultation and the fact that many people on the list, apparently verified between the two governments, did not know they were on the list. A statement released by Rohingya living in three of the camps rightfully demanded, "We want to make it very clear to UNHCR, ASEAN, the Government of Myanmar, and the Government of Bangladesh that there will be no repatriation without talking to us first." Until there are immediate and concrete steps towards addressing the root causes of the displacement of the Rohingya, including justice and accountability for the horrific acts of violence committed against them, planned returns are useless. They would return to the threat of violence that they experienced before, or will live in apartheid conditions that the current, over 120,000 internally displaced persons are living in. Full and meaningful consultation with, and participation of, the affected communities themselves with guarantees of the restoration of their citizenship, freedom of movement and return to their original homes are essential for any planned return. It has been two years, and the international response to finding accountability, an essential step in addressing the impunity of the Myanmar military, has been desperately poor. More must be done, especially by the UN Security Council, which has a duty to refer Myanmar to the ICC for a full investigation and prosecution of the heinous crimes its armed forces have committed. If the use of genocidal rape against one of the most vulnerable populations in the world is not sufficient for the Security Council to refer Myanmar to the ICC, it is too difficult to comprehend what is. |
