Rohingya refugees return three years after evacuation due to deterioration of domestic security

Rohingya refugees 3 years after evacuation Return due to deterioration of domestic security 5:06 on August 25

It's been three years in 25 days since the clashes between armed groups and the army that prompted more than 700,000 Rohingya, a minority Muslim minority in Myanmar, to evacuate to neighboring Bangladesh.
In addition to the effects of the new coronavirus, the security of Myanmar is deteriorating, making it even more difficult to return home.

In Rakhine State in western Myanmar, the Rohingya armed forces attacked police and military facilities one after another on the 25th three years ago, and the army embarked on a large-scale sweeping operation, and more than 700,000 Rohingya people Have fled to neighboring Bangladesh and are forced to live in a refugee camp.

Against this backdrop, since May this year, the new coronavirus has spread in the camp, and 79 cases have been confirmed so far.

At the camp, people are crowded and the hygiene environment is bad, so it is feared that an explosive infection will occur.Therefore, the number of aid personnel going in and out of the United Nations has to be reduced to about 20% of the previous amount, and support is spread. It's getting harder to do.

On the other hand, in Rakhine State, which is the destination of return, since two years ago, the armed forces, whose mother body is a minority other than the Rohingya, continued fierce fighting with the army in search of widespread autonomy, and the deterioration of security has become serious.

For this reason, the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh have not been working together to promote the return of refugees for the past year or so, and the return of the Rohingya people is becoming farther.

Rohingya people “drifting” due to refusal of entry

Given the lack of prospects for return to Myanmar, some Rohingya refugees were left behind by reliance on smugglers to ship to other countries, such as Malaysia, in an attempt to get out of poor camping life. not.

In February, a ship carrying about 130 refugees capsized in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Bangladesh, killing 15 people and leaving about 50 missing.

On the other hand, as the new coronavirus spreads all over the world, there are many cases in which refugees are refused to berth on the grounds that they may carry the virus.

This past April, the Malaysian Air Force discovered a ship onboard about 200 refugees off the coast of Langkawi in northern Malaysia, but after feeding it, it pushed the ship back out of its territorial waters. It has become.

Also, according to the United Nations, a ship protected in the Bay of Bengal in April was denied berthing, drifted for nearly two months, and more than 30 of the approximately 400 refugees died before being protected. about it.

The Government of Bangladesh is working on the rescue operation of such ships drifting at sea, but in order to prevent the spread of the infection, the rescued refugees are being transferred to the uninhabited islands off the coast.

According to the United Nations, more than 300 refugees have been transferred to the island so far.

This uninhabited island was originally developed by the government to relocate 100,000 refugees, but it is accused of such measures because actual migration has been postponed because it may be flooded by cyclones. Is also rising.

Also heard in the International Court of Justice

The persecution that the Rohingya people have received violates the genocide treaty that prohibits genocide, etc.The Gambia of West Africa is in the Hague of the Netherlands last November on behalf of the countries and regions with many Muslims. It has filed an appeal with the International Court of Justice for liability of the Myanmar government.

At the hearing held in December of last year, Aung San Suu Kyi's state counselor, who effectively headed the Myanmar administration, appeared in the court himself and strongly argued that the plaintiffs' complaint was ``incomplete and misleading.'' did.

He also stated that if anyone had been guilty, he would insist on a domestic decision and refuse to intervene in international judiciary.

However, when the Myanmar army convicted three soldiers who were involved in the operation in a village where a large number of Rohingya people were killed at a martial law conference held in June, other soldiers As it is necessary to consider the morale of the person, the detailed attitude of criminal charges and sentencing has not been disclosed, and a reluctant attitude toward information disclosure has become prominent.

Expert “Wrinkle is even more wrinkled with the new Corona. There are also discussions for the long term”

Associate Professor Naoto Kusakabe of the College of Intercultural Communication, Rikkyo University, who is studying the problem of Rohingya, says that the situation of Rohingya people is becoming more severe. The situation that requires priority is that wrinkles are occurring among refugees who are not under the protection of the state."

As for future outlook, “I have come to the opinion that it may be difficult to return home while talking to government officials in Bangladesh. How will the lives of refugees be protected by the support of the international community? It is now being seriously debated.” He acknowledged that Bangladesh, which accepted refugees, had no choice but to specifically consider how to deal with the prolongation of the problem.