5 years of Rohingya exodus: A people (still) without agency, trapped in a geopolitical tightrope
On 19 June, a day before the World Refugee Day, thousands gathered inside Rohingya camps in Ukhia, Cox's Bazar. A 23-year-old Jan-e-Alam was one of the attendants.
In fact, it was part of a peaceful rally on the first day of the "Let's Go Home" campaign launched at 23 camps – 21 in Ukhia and two in Teknaf upazila.
"We gathered and held banners that said 'we want to go back',"said Alam. "We were not allowed to gather last year or the year before [2020]. Who knows if we can gather to commemorate the five year anniversary [of the 2017 exodus] or not," Alam recently said.
The 19 June gathering was a sight for sore eyes for the camp residents because it was allowed by the authorities despite a ban on rallies since a 1,00,000-strong protest in August 2019.
"We want to go back to Myanmar, but only if it is safe," Alam added over the phone through a very glitchy network reception. "Now we hear about more war there. Then how can we go?"
Today marks five years since the influx of the approximately 8,00,000 displaced Rohingya people into Cox's Bazar, caused by the Myanmar military's violent crackdown and subsequent genocide starting on 25 August 2017. The displaced Rohinya then joined the already 300,000 Rohingya refugees living in the country's camps who fled similar military crackdowns in the recent past, notably in 1978 and again in 1991.
The atrocities committed by the military, five years ago, across the border, spurred a collective outcry from the international community. However, as time transpired that outcry became diluted. At home, the local public opinion seems to have shifted from sympathy to impatience caused by the protracted nature of the Rohingya crisis.
There seems to be no end and no feasible step forward to facilitate a safe and voluntary repatriation at the time - which, for multiple factors, has all but become stalled. Additionally, the overcrowded camps strewed across Cox's Bazar have seen a spike in violence - including murders of high profile Rohingya leaders - raising security concerns.
"Over the last five years, we have seen more police checkposts set up, more wired fences set up," said Haider Ali, a resident in Kutupalong registered camp. Ali was born and raised in the camp, the son of parents who came in the 1991 exodus. "Movement is more restricted now," he said.
In the last two years, multiple reports of Rohingya leaders shot dead or killed inside the camps emerged in the news. One of the victims is Mohammed Mohib Ullah, a Rohingya human rights activist and leader, who was shot to death by an unidentified group of armed men on 29 September 2021, in his office at the world's largest refugee camp, Kutupalong refugee camp.
"There are more 'gang systems' now [inside the camps]," said a camp resident, requesting anonymity.
"The trend is negative. Violence inside the camps is, in fact, increasing," said Shafqat Munir, head of Bangladesh Centre for Terrorism Research at Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, adding, "we have to do a comprehensive security review of the camps, we have to see what kinds of factions, organisations or individuals are operating there. We have to create some structures for dispute resolutions within the camps, and create a more secure environment where basically outside elements cannot infiltrate the place."
Munir also added that however, "compared to the initial security assessments which were very grim, we have fared much better overall. Also we have to remember that security problems are not uncommon to large refugee camps of this nature."
Life inside the camps
Jan-e-Alam, young and eager to work, spends his days between prayers, idly sitting, limited access to healthcare, sanitation and gathering at tongs inside the camp. "I have nothing to do you see," he lamented, "just like everyone else here."
He added, but "I tutor small children here, the ones who go to primary school, and teach them mathematics, Burmese and English." The high school graduate who completed 10th grade finds joy in teaching now. He used to do volunteer work at the DRC (NGO). "But they left the site [where he resides] and now there is Brac here. I submitted my application months ago but never got called in."
Alam lives with his mother and three siblings. The same four family members he journeyed with for 12 days on foot to cross into the Bangladesh border from their village in Rakhine State five years ago.
In between afternoon slumber, the summer heat, endless idle hours and restricted movement with no or negligible future prospects, he says "it is not easy here. You cannot know if you don't live in my shoes."
The world outside the largest refugee camp in the world
It took the UN one year to release a report in 2018 terming the military's action as genocide, and only early this year, the United States declared Myanmar committed genocide.
The international outcry proved to be loud and collective. "What was key for our success, initially, is that we were able to grab the world's imagination. We were able to get all the international agencies to come work here in the camps, get significant UN assistance," said Munir, ''we were even able to get the entire UN Security Council to come to the camps for a visit, which is fairly unprecedented. It doesn't happen often."
Additionally, countries - such as Russia and China - which were initially reluctant in dialogue or to offer support in the Rohingya crisis are now looking into matters with a greater degree of concern, he added.
The boldest move was made by the Gambia - backed by the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation - when it took Myanmar to the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity. As a result, the court ruled in January 2020 that Myanmar must take immediate action to protect its "extremely vulnerable" Rohingya minority.
"For the first time in the seven-decade history of the ICJ, the plaintiff wasn't a nation connected to the crimes it said were committed…. In its case at The Hague, there's a reminder that just as human rights are universal, so too is the power – and responsibility – to protect them," reported The Christian Science Monitor.
However, the UN Security Council fell short. "They could have done more, they could have been more decisive [in this regard]" said former ambassador Humayun Kabir.
Additionally, HRW said "the UN Security Council should end its inaction borne of anticipated vetoes by China and Russia and urgently negotiate a resolution to institute a global arms embargo on Myanmar, refer the situation to the International Criminal Court, and impose targeted sanctions on the junta and military-owned conglomerates.."
Is repatriation on the cards?
The ongoing Ukraine war has "reduced the international community's attention to the Rohingya crisis, sure, but it did not shift away completely," said Kabir, adding "they [Rohingya] are very much still on the front burner in the global and regional discourse, particularly because Myanmar's internal problem [military coup] has become a regional concern."
Kabir also said that Myanmar is under regional pressure, citing one example: ASEAN's move to bar Myanmar from attending foreign ministers' meeting 3 February 2022. "Although in five years there has not been practically any progress [in terms of repatriation], the issue is still on the attention framework of the international community." Kabir remains positive.
The former ambassador also speculated that because of the increased pressure on Myanmar at the moment due to the coup, perhaps, there is some kind of incentive for Myanmar to take back the Rohingya from Bangladesh in order to reduce some pressure.
But there remain many obstacles. Myanmar's military coup in 2021 disrupted dialogue between Bangladesh and Myanmar. "Track 1 [when the governments speak] and Track 2 [when civil society groups of respective countries speak] level dialogue are virtually stalled," said Munir, "having been part of a major track 2 process with Myanmar for years, I can say with confidence that it went a long way in building trust and confidence."
"If you look at the situation from the government's perspective, it is a very delicate situation," said Munir, "The government and authorities need to address the host community's concerns and we should also look at options and opportunities to develop greater trust between the host community and the Rohingya community."
At the same time, "we do not want to anger the other party and have a hostile neighbour, we also don't want the Rohingya people to lose trust in Bangladesh," said Munir. "Myanmar is our land bridge to ASEAN and we can derive significant economic benefits in the long run. The situation will require a well calibrated approach in the coming days."
Jan-e-Alam, at the end of our phone conversation, insisted that his gratitude is heard. "We will never forget what this country has done for us," he said, "we came here with nothing and for the government to accommodate this large number of people is a huge thing. And for that I am thankful."
What do you hope for in your future? A low chuckle and in English words: "I have many ambitions and dreams, but I cannot fulfil them because I am a Rohingya," said Alam, then back to a mix of English and Bangla with a distinct accent, "You see I never really tasted freedom so I cannot tell you what freedom means to me. But I still just want to be free and able to do what I want."
