Military diplomacy—an option to resolve Rohingya calamity

Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed:

The Rohingya crisis is a long-standing and deep-rooted humanitarian, political and security issue in South Asia, which has become a significant challenge for the international community since 2017. “The country’s military’s widespread torture, violence and ethnic cleansing campaign against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim population, known as the” “Rohingya genocide,” “has disrupted the lives of millions of people and created a massive refugee influx into neighboring Bangladesh.” This has raised questions about the human rights of the Rohingya people, their civil rights and security, which has caused tension in international politics. This crisis is a major challenge not only for Bangladesh, Myanmar and the Rohingya, but also for regional and international politics. The crisis is not only a refugee crisis, but also raises questions about human rights violations, ethnic violence, political instability, regional security risks, and international diplomacy. The reasons behind the Rohingya crisis and the challenges it poses have profound implications for global politics.

Myanmar’s strategic location between India and China places it at the center of significant regional geopolitics. Both India and China have shown interest in Myanmar for economic, security, and political reasons. China has heavily invested in infrastructure projects in Myanmar, including pipelines, roads, and ports including Chaina’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). These investments have brought China closer to Myanmar’s government, with Myanmar’s military particularly benefiting from Chinese support. India, on the other hand, has concerns about security in its northeast region, which shares a border with Myanmar.

The Rohingya crisis is presently one of the major problems in Bangladesh, but the country has been struggling with the refugee issue since 1978. The dilemma first began when almost one million refugees came to Bangladesh from Myanmar to take shelter. These Muslim refugees are known as “Rohingya.” This historic incident was repeated in 2017-2018 when about 400,000 Rohingya refugees escaped from the Rakhine state of Myanmar and sought refuge in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh. This religious minority is deprived of fundamental human rights and civil rights. The Rohingya issue has now become a burning question for Bangladesh, which is already a densely populated country, as the refugees continue to enter Bangladesh for shelter. As a result, Bangladesh is facing various socio-economic, political and financial challenges while trying to provide the necessities of life to those refugees. Legally, Bangladesh is not the final safe zone or destination for refugees because it is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol or a party to the Statelessness Conventions of 1954 and 1961. But neither could Bangladesh reject shelters to the Rohingya refugees on humanitarian grounds. Even though Bangladesh has decided to assist the refugees, it is not prosperous enough to accommodate the Rohingya refugees. There is also a lack of strict domestic law concerning refugees or political asylum in Bangladesh, which is struggling to overcome this “Rohingya Crisis” to save its image in the international arena. The Rohingya people were forced to leave Myanmar and settle in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has tried to address the multi-dimensional “Rohingya Crisis”, which is also being considered seriously by numerous international agencies and NGOs in Bangladesh.

Although military diplomacy is one of the approaches, its implementation varies from state to state. As a result, there is no universally accepted definition of military diplomacy. In general, however, it can be said that the military means of a state are used to achieve bilateral strategic goals with other countries in the diplomatic interests of the state through peaceful negotiation and cooperation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for formulating and implementing strategies related to military diplomacy. The military media plays a supporting role. Military diplomacy is open and transparent. Many countries in the world have formulated national strategies on military diplomacy. Spain, for example, has an excellent national strategy for military diplomacy. We do not know if our foreign ministry has any such national plan. This kind of military diplomacy has significance and importance in the present world. Military diplomacy is being discussed in many countries lately, but its history is very old. However, its nature and application were different with time. In ancient times, emperors of different countries used to send military delegations to different countries. Sometimes for economic purposes, sometimes for influence. On behalf of the ancient Ming emperor of China, Zheng Ho, a military officer, traveled to various parts of the world, including India. Although the nature of military diplomacy has changed, the purpose remains the same. The purpose is to uplift the diplomatic interests of the country. There are various strategies to realize various benefits in the interest of the country by using military diplomacy. Bangladesh has several advantages and possibilities in this regard.

The multidimensionality of the Rohingya issue and the crisis could further complicate the situation if militant, terrorist and extremist perceptions are created among the Rohingya refugees in the coming days. There will be no effective solution to this problem without the leading role of all regional countries, including Bangladesh, as well as the United Nations and various international organizations.

However, we believe that military diplomacy and strategy will play a major role in this regard. Many political views also seem to suggest that one day the military junta regime in Myanmar will end. Bullying and harassment will be tolerated. Justice and humanity will prevail. In Arakan and Rakhine State, maybe one day, in the course of time, the Rohingya Muslims will be able to get the right to their homeland and become the owners of an independent and dignified state with the citizenship of their own land.

(The writer is former Deputy Director General, Bangladesh Ansar and VDP).