Bangladesh, UN and Myanmar should not speed up the process of repatriation they should take as much time as required
LAHORE: The travails of the Rohingya seem to be continuing. In recent developments, members of the besieged community that fled the brutalities in their homeland have refused to move back from their refugee camps in Bangladesh to Myanmar. The refugees were expected to make a peaceful and dignified transition back to their old lives starting from January 23rd and to be completed over the next two years, but their refusal to comply with the United Nations’ and the Bangladeshi authorities’ directives has raised doubts over their smooth repatriation.
The delay has not only been caused because of the refusal by the Muslim minority community but also because their host country has stated that some technicalities — such as the registration of all 700,000 refugees — have still not been completed.
While the community is living in impoverished camps, they are still better off at the facility provided by Bangladesh as the instability in the Rakhine state of Myanmar is still present. The Rohingya people fled Myanmar to escape the military crackdown that took place after a militant attack on Aug 25 last year, and the United Nations has described the crackdown as ‘ethnic cleansing’.
Considering the seriousness of the community’s trauma and their enormous suffering, Bangladesh, the UN and Myanmar should not speed up the process of repatriation. They should take as much time as required.
Ghana Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2018.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
