Rohingya: A Plight from Father Sheikh to Daughter Sheikh

After the massive gathering of 2^nd Genocide Anniversary commemoration, failure of second repatriation attempt and intentional false accusation against refugees of murdering Jubo leader, many local digital media, social media activists and individuals among the host community are seen campaigning to stir public sentiment and instigating them against these ever-vulnerable Rohingyas and striving to defame their image while their demand for a radical solution to their deep-rooted problem and the insisting refusal to a premature repatriation are misinterpreted as that they never want to leave Bangladesh.

Defending the refugees’ stand, Mohamed Farooq, an activist wrote “Rohingya are grateful and heartfelt thanks to the people and Government of Bangladesh for sheltering this vulnerable Rohingya community from the Burmese killing field where thousands have been mercilessly murdered including infants, children, women and elderly persons. Some Bangladeshi brothers have posted in social media as Rohingya are protesting to live in Bangladesh permanently…”

He continued “Rohingya people do not belong to Bangladesh at all. They have their own properties like you possess in your localities. Moreover, they are not gathered (on 25 August) to live in BD permanently. They demand for justice, restoring their citizenship and other basic rights.

“Rohingya plight is an extra burden for Bangladesh because BD is an over populated country as well as she has her own internal problems to be solved. However, Burma agreed only to take back 3-4 thousand Rohingya from over a million people. This is no more than to reduce international pressure. No single Rohingya is willing to live in BD, but how can one go back without having security and safety. In short, they have to have a sustainable solution before repatriation.” Farooq added.

It is a problem having been hanging unsolved since the father Sheikh to the daughter Sheikh and the refugees became like a tennis ball in a game between Bangladesh without scoring.

Since the fall of Arakan in 1784 until today, Bangladesh has been the first destination for any genocide survivors. Even the British diplomat Hiram Cox after whom Cox’s Bazar was named as such came to Bengal to settle Rohingya refugee issue.

After the problem arose at the time of Bangabandhu, shortly after his sorrowful decease, the modern Bangladesh first experienced a major influx of Rohingya in 1978. But an unprepared repatriation led to another bigger influx again 1992 followed by also a premature repatriation. Perhaps this is the result that the history repeated itself again worse in the last couple of years. If we haven’t taken lesson from the last experiences, Bangladesh has to prepare to accommodate the whole Arakanese population in near future.

From this history, we learned that Bangladesh enjoys the full sovereignty in its territories and the authority to decide either to allow the refugees stay longer there or send them back. Nothing, even UNHCR’s suspension of its operation out of disagreement, could stop Bangladesh in implementing its decision to hand over the refugees to the genocidaires. Secondly, the increasing number refugees in one influx after another indicates Myanmar’s improvement in its efforts to cleanse this people and that as the number in current influx represents 90% percent of the population, the next one will be a total cleansing.

Refugees’ yelling that “we don’t go our demands are fulfilled” never mean that they are looking for a permanent settlement in Bangladesh. In contrast, it means that they want to go back forever and avoid any possible migration in the future.

Now comes the role of Bangladesh and its people. Evacuating the refugees from the region is not getting rid of the problems Bangladesh is facing, but pushing the crisis into more complicacy unless it is solved radically. Because Myanmar is awaiting return of the refugees with a tougher trap return of the refugees – NVC and camps.

According to reports, Myanmar government has deployed its secret agents and spies in southern Bangladesh to portray a bad refugee image in cooperation with some local medias and on the other hand to persuade refugees for repatriation.

Recently Bangladesh is planning to cut internet access in the refugee camps. It’s a negative impact will be that the more Bangladesh thread on refugees’ neck, the more they will leave the camp to merge in to the local communities.

Though Bangladesh is neither perpetrator of a genocide nor a victim, it has been and is part of the problem as it became the land of migration for more than a million survivors. In addition, Myanmar always accuses Rohingyas to be “Bengalis” originally.

Rohingyas believe that their plight started at the time of the Father Sheikh and it will end at the time of the Daughter Sheikh.