The international community must step up
We hope that the recent visit of the Japanese, Chinese, French, and Indonesian envoys at the Bhasan Char Rohingya camps would finally spur the international community to be more pro-active when it comes to the repatriation of the million-plus refugees currently sheltered in Bangladesh.
The Rohingya remain the most persecuted community in the world and their continued treatment as second-class citizens at the hands of the Myanmar government is an unacceptable state of affairs in this day and age that must come to an end.
Myanmar’s past promises of repatriation have always rung hollow and insincere, but the Rohingya have the right to go back to their homes and feel safe and welcome. It is unacceptable on the part of Myanmar to continue to take a stance which fails to recognize the human rights of their own people — opting instead to treat them as inferior to the majority population.
Of course, far more egregious has been the ongoing role, or lack thereof, of the international community at large. With next to no motivation to make things right for the Rohingya, most nations have only been silent partners only throwing money for financial aid in the camps.
But such solutions are tantamount to applying bandaids over gun wounds.
As things stand, the Rohingya crisis has taken a tremendous toll on our nation’s economy and infrastructure, and the only way to truly make things right for everyone involved is for the prompt repatriation of the million-plus Rohingya refugees back to their homeland Myanmar.
The international community must step up.
It is the lack of urgency displayed by the international community in holding Myanmar accountable that has led it to act with the impunity and disregard that it displays now. Repatriation is the only way out.
Source: Dhaka Tribuen
