THE miserable plight of the Rohingya has drawn international attention, and on Monday, UN Secretary General António Guterres visited members of the beleaguered community in a Bangladeshi refugee camp to hear their ordeal. Mr Guterres, who described their situation as “a humanitarian and human rights nightmare”, minced no words while discussing the plight of the Rohingya on his visit to the Kutupalong refugee camp. Around 700,000 people had fled Rakhine state in Myanmar after last year’s ethno-religious violence, most of which targeted the minority Muslim Rohingya community. “Let’s be clear where the responsibility is — it is in Myanmar,” the UN chief said during his visit. The military-dominated government in Myanmar considers members of the community ‘Bengalis’ and refuses to give them citizenship rights.

While there have been efforts to repatriate the refugees, the situation in Myanmar is still not conducive for their return. Less than 200 people out of hundreds of thousands have opted to return to Myanmar; most say they won’t until their citizenship rights and safety are guaranteed. The Myanmar authorities have punished a general who reportedly led the violent campaign against the Rohingya after the EU applied pressure. However, this is just a drop in the ocean. Myanmar needs to do much more to help reintegrate the Rohingya into society, take steps to guarantee their safety and punish those responsible for the rape and murder of members of the minority community. A just and humane solution must also be reached to address the question of citizenship for the Rohingya. Up till now, the world has done very little to protect the Rohingya from violence and intimidation. However, it is hoped that after the UN chief’s personal attention to their plight, things will change and the global community will send a strong signal to Myanmar that the human rights of the community must be respected. The authorities in Myanmar cannot allow extremist elements to persecute the Rohingya.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2018