Press Release
May 22, 2023
The Arakan Rohingya National Alliance (ARNA) warmly welcomes the timely initiative taken by the international affairs publication Diplomats World in organising a seminar on ‘Rohingya Repatriation: A Pathway to Peace, Stability and Harmony in the Bay of Bengal (BOB) region” held on May 20, 2023, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Dr Mohamed Yunus, the Vice-Chairman of the Arakan Rohingya National Alliance (ARNA) was present at the seminar. During the seminar, he thanked the government and people of Bangladesh on behalf of ARNA and said Bangladesh’s role has had a very strong impact on the wellbeing of the Rohingya population. He said ARNA was working towards the goals to achieve desired objectives and he requested that in future, there should be more dialogues similar to this for facilitating communications between Bangladesh, Rohingya and the international community.
Speakers at the seminar expressed concern about the sincerity of Myanmar’s ruling generals in the Rohingya repatriation and noted that the vast majority of Buddhist Myanmar was unwilling to accommodate the Rohingya Muslim minority after they were brutally driven out of their country following years of brutal ethnic cleansing. Violence against the impoverished Muslim community, who are regarded as illegal immigrants in Myanmar, despite centuries of existence in the country reached a peak in 2017, but speakers noted that a huge part of Myanmar cheered on the genocide and at that time, hailed the Myanmar’s armed forces as heroes.
However, since 2021, Myanmar’s complicated political landscape has seen the Tatmadaw pitted against the general populace, including both the majority Burman’s and country’s myriad ethnic communities, many of them are heavily armed.
Many speakers at the Diplomats seminar however bemoaned the fact that while the Burmese population is now on the receiving end of the army’s atrocities, old prejudices regarding the Muslims are very much alive and they continue to be viewed as security threats. Except for a small handful of progressive young population, the vast majority of the Buddhist populace, even those who are fighting the army, no matter what they tell the outside world, use the same language as the Burmese military in private conversations. Under such circumstances, speakers expressed concern that even in the unlikely scenario the regime led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing collapses, Rohingyas would be seen as the ‘others’ and would find themselves once again in the refugee camps of Bangladesh, and the risk of ethnic cleansing would remain a clear danger.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, present as the Chief Guest of the seminar said Bangladesh had opened the doors to the Rohingya population as the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina did not hesitate to take charge of the humanitarian situation despite Bangladesh being the most densely populated country on the planet. “But this was not meant to be a permanent solution,” said the Foreign Minister. He said that it was not enough for the leading nations of the world to condemn the situation, and their investments in the region especially in Myanmar were at risk if they did not bring justice for the Rohingya people. He said countries like the United Kingdom which had an extremely close relationship with Bangladesh, were still investing a lot in Myanmar and as a result the Junta regime was convinced that after a few years, the Rohingyas would be forgotten. He however warned that Rohingyas, especially the young and the children would not forget and there was every chance they would turn to terrorism. This would hamper the investment, trade and regional stability of the region and once again Bangladesh, which has done so much to fix the situation would be blamed for the situation getting out of hand. However, he said Bangladesh as a peaceful nation had been doing everything for a humanitarian solution and the Western nations, China and India should also step in and convince Myanmar to be more sincere in their dealings.
Earlier, Retired Lt General Md Mahfuzur Rahman, the moderator of the seminar expressed concern that the situation was like a ‘ticking time bomb’ as children traumatised by the brutality of the Myanmar army would grow up as avengers. This would affect regional and global security.
Meanwhile, keynote speaker Md Obaidul Haque said that despite all the complexities, repatriation still remains the most desirable objective. He warned that repatriation is being hampered by many factors, notably the unwillingness of Myanmar to grant citizenship to the Rohingya. There was also the fact that Rohingya refugees could not just be handed over to the Myanmar authorities and forgotten, it is imperative that they be sent to their homeland from where they had originally come. Haque also said that the tendency to demonise refugees should also be stopped as this only leads to more insecurity. Instead he said it was time to show the Rohingyas that we care for their plight and called for more dialogue with representatives of the Rohingya community.
Retired Major General Md Nayeem Ashfaque Chowdhury also stressed that smooth rehabilitation would involve the return of Rohingyas not only to Myanmar but to the homestead they had inhabited before the 2017 genocide. However, he expressed disgust that the army of Myanmar had completely destroyed 400 Muslim villages. He also noted that there were tens of thousands of Muslims stranded in the IDP camps since 2012, held there for the last eleven years. If Myanmar was serious about repatriation and resettlement, he questioned why those IDPs had not been returned to their homes in eleven years.
Military Historian Dr Michael W Charney briefly explained the mentality of the Tatmadaw. He stated that there were two reasons why Myanmar would be keen to take back some refugees, to arm them to fight the Arakan Army, the force in Arakan that had defeated the Tatmadaw in some key battles. Taking the Rohingyas to fight against the Arakan Army would once again divide the Rakhine and Muslim populations in a volatile communal atmosphere and many pro Tatmadaw Rohingya leaders would waste little time in declaring the AA and not the Tatmadaw which committed the 2017 genocide, were the main opponents of the Rohingya people. The same can of course be expected from xenophobic Rakhine nationalists who hold popular sway over much of the Rakhine population. The Myanmar army which had lost much in the last few years fighting the AA would again gain the upper hand while Rakhines and Rohingyas fight each other. The other reason was China, stated Dr Charney.
Noted rights activist Gareth John Evans, former Australian Foreign Minister and President of the International Crisis Group who had spent a better part of his life trying to advocate for the end of mass atrocities, once and for all, also spoke at the seminar. Evans had earlier advocated international responsibility to protect the people of Myanmar from their rulers, saying this was complicated as no country had come forward to commit so much against the brutal Junta rulers.
Former State Minister for Foreign Affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury, was also present at the seminar. He praised the Western countries for taking in thousands of refugees, but expressed surprise that few offered sincere appraisal for Bangladesh when this impoverished country took in more than a million refugees.
Professor Shuchita Sharmin from the University of Dhaka proposed that a commission be formed involving security and diplomatic experts to chart out a course of measures needed for dealing with the current situation.
The seminar also condemned Myanmar as a barbaric force from a bygone era. There were also concerns expressed that current Myanmar efforts at rehabilitation were an eye wash for a favourable ruling at the ICJ and for whitewashing the illegitimate elections to ‘legitimise’ the principal architect of the 2017 genocide Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who heads Myanmar’s current ruling Junta.
For more information please contact:
Nay San Lwin, +4917662139138, secretariat@thearna.org