Myanmar’s junta leader casts doubt on return of Rohingya refugees

THE genocide against the Rohingyas shows no sign of abating in Myanmar, the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) said in a statement on Monday. It comes at a time that coincides with Myanmar’s duty to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on how it is preventing genocidal acts against the minority group in Rakhine State.
As part of the genocide case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar, the ICJ in January 2020 imposed “provisional measures” ordering Myanmar to prevent and halt genocidal acts against the Rohingyas. According to the court order, Myanmar is required to report periodically to the court on its compliance with these measures, with a report which was due by May 23, 2021.
According to transnational media reports, the military coup in Myanmar on February 1 added much uncertainty around the ICJ case as well as Rohingya repatriation from Bangladesh. Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in his first television interview since taking power in the coup cast doubt on the return of Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled to Bangladesh from Rakhine to avoid atrocities in 2017.
Min Aung Hlaing, who headed the army in 2017 when some 750,000 Rohingya fled from advancing troops, reiterated the view that Rohingyas are not one of Myanmar’s ethnic groups. However, Bangladesh is hardly in a position to keep on bearing the burden of over a million Rohingya refugees, including those who came before 2017.
It is now unclear if the military dictatorship intends to engage with the ICJ, or whether it will submit a report at all. Former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who represented Myanmar in the IJC, had also supported the military atrocities against Rohingyas.
BROUK President Tun Khin said the Myanmar military continues to subject the existing Rohingyas to a vicious pattern of abuse and extortion in Rakhine State, where Rohingyas are kept in what amounts to an open-air prison, creating intolerable living conditions. At least 15 Rohingyas, including nine children, have died as a direct result of restrictions preventing access to medical care. It urged the international community and the National Unity Government to throw their full weight behind international justice efforts.
At present, there is little reason to believe that Myanmar will take back its own people to settle in the Rakhine State providing them with full citizenship status. Thus, BROUK needs strong diplomatic endeavours to win over the international community to wield pressure on Myanmar to solve the issue. Otherwise, there is a little chance of any solution to the crisis.