Since taking office in March 2011, President U Thein Sein, a former general, has released hundreds of political prisoners, legalized labour unions, eased censorship, held talks with Washington and London, and signed a ceasefire with ethnic Karen rebels – a major step towards ending one of the world’s longest-running ethnic insurgencies.
But Rohingyas are quite skeptical of the changes that have become a toast of the liberal circles. According to them there is no change in the conditions that had forced them enmass to flee the country.
‘The situation has not improved,’ Mostak Ahmad, 35, an undocumented Rohingya refugee, is quoted as saying in an IRIN dispatch. He fled his home 10 years ago. ‘We were hopeful during the 2010 election as we were given voting powers but now we are frustrated’.
Lynn Yoshikawa, a campaigner with Washington-based Refugees International, echoes the same view. “While there are some improvements in the Burmese government’s rhetoric, there is no change on the ground’, he says.
Fazal Karim, 40, who fled to avoid forced labour, had recently spoken with his relatives in Myanmar. "They said that in some cases the situation had worsened," he said. Under the agreement between the government of Myanmar and the International Labour Organization (ILO) signed in February 2007, anyone who complains about forced labour or facilitates a complaint is protected by law.
As Karim’s testimony highlights, there are serious credibility issues as far as the implementation of the agreement is concerned. For instance, some 17 people, mostly farmers who had complained about forced labour, or people helping them to lodge their complaints- were imprisoned in early 2010. Though 13 of the detainees were subsequently released, the fate of the remaining four is not known.
Unlike elsewhere in the world, in Myanmar, forced labour is more to do with limited resources with the state and economics. ILO officials say the regime by and large understands in its approach to addressing the issue of forced labour.
Rohingyas inside Myanmar are estimated to be around 879,000; they mostly live in Rakhine state in Northern Arakan. Some two lakh Rohingyas are living as refugees outside Myanmar, mostly Bangladesh. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), only 28,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh are documented and living in two government camps assisted by the agency. Close to 11,000 live at the Kutupalong camp, with another 17,000 farther south at Nayapara – both within 2km of Myanmar. Those outside the camps have no legal rights and are reportedly living in squalor, receive limited aid and are vulnerable to arrest, extortion and even physical attack. And those within Rakhine, say activists, still have no freedom to travel or marry and remain subject to extortion, intimidation and abuse.
The year 1978 saw a big wave of Rohingyas running away to Bangladesh, following the ‘Nagamin’ (‘Dragon King’) operation of the Myanmar army. Officially this campaign was aimed at ‘scrutinizing each individual living in the Rakhine state, designating citizens and foreigners in accordance with the law and taking actions against foreigners who have filtered into the country illegally." This military campaign directly targeted civilians, and resulted in widespread killings, rape and destruction of mosques and further religious persecution."
The next major wave was witnessed during 1991-92 when over a quarter of a million Rohingyas landed in Bangladesh. They reported widespread forced labour, as well as summary executions, torture, and rape. Rohingyas were forced to work without pay by the army on infrastructure and economic projects, often under harsh conditions.
The situation did not change after the multi-party general elections held in Nov 2010 as part of a ‘roadmap to democracy’, according to the Arkans Project report which covers the period November 2010 – July 2011. ‘Whatever progress may emerge from the new government in Nay Pyi Taw, the plight of the Rohingya in North Arakan has not improved on the ground. On the contrary, the scourge of forced labour for the authorities remains much the same as in the past, with some Rohingya families ordered to contribute up to 15 days a month to various concurrent infrastructure projects and other regular maintenance and guard duties’, the report, prepared by a group campaigning for Rohingya rights, says.
IRIN reports that every year scores of Rohingyas – from Myanmar and Bangladesh – attempt to escape by boat to Thailand, Malaysia or even Indonesia.
In December 2011, at least 23 Rohingyas are known to have died when the two boats carrying them and 200 others capsized in the Bay of Bengal, while on 2 January a number of Rohingyas reached the Australian coast after an arduous voyage from Malaysia.
Chris Lewa, the group’s coordinator, said there had been no sign of improvement for Rohingyas in Myanmar, either in terms of policy towards them, or on the ground, ‘and little hope’ that things could change in the near future.
The new Burmese government still considered Rohingyas ‘illegal immigrants from a neighbouring country’ and has no intention of granting them citizenship or relaxing restrictions on them, she opined.
Straws in the wind
However, during a December visit to Myanmar by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, President U Thein Sein expressed his desire to cooperate with Dhaka in resolving the Rohingya issue. Two days after the visit, Myanmar officials told their counterparts in Bangladesh that they would take back ‘documented’ Rohingya refugees after verification by its authorities.
Since the documented refugees are few in number, the repatriation will make no impact. There is also the possibility of not many willing to return home. “There is little chance that many registered refugees would agree to return under the present conditions in Myanmar”, said Lewa. She is, however, clear that if conditions were to improve significantly many would not hesitate to get repatriated.
