Worst is the refusal of the neighbouring countries to accept the migrants as refugees fleeing a war-torn region
KARACHI: Ever since their migration to the subcontinent during the British rule and later with the independence of Myanmar as a state, the Rohingya have been denied the legal status of citizens of the country. Over the years the conflict between the dominant Buddhist majority and the minority ethnic group of Rohingya has evolved into state perpetrated ethnic cleansing of the latter. With the coming of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to power, the deadly conflict has erupted resulting in the mass massacre of Rohingya Muslims at the hands of Buddhist forces.
Worst is the refusal of the neighbouring countries to accept the migrants as refugees fleeing a war-torn region. Before Bangladesh deported refugee migrants from its borders, India not only threatened to deport refugees despite being registered with UNHCR but instigated neighbouring states to follow suit calling the inflow of refugees a security threat.
Therefore, even the documented and the registered Rohingyas are not liable to have a legally bound refugee status. Further, the UN commission headed by Kofi Annan has failed to resolve an ethnically-driven conflict.
The UN’s failure at conflict-resolution has put its position as an international mediator to states and groups in question. However, deploying a peace keeping mission in the country is another option which despite not being a political solution to the conflict could stop killings of the Muslim minority in the country.
Maham Younus
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2017.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
