UN must act and investigate its agencies involvement in Rohingya refugees repatriation pilot project
It has been over five years since the Myanmar military has launched its genocidal campaign against the Rohingya in Rakhine State that drove out more than 800,000 Rohingya to the Bangladesh border. The same military has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against other ethnic and religious minorities including mass killings, rape and gang rape, torture, forced displacement, arbitrary arrests and detention, and burning of villages to ashes. They continue to enjoy blanket impunity fueled by international community’s apathy and inability to hold them accountable.
Amidst the catastrophic conditions the Myanmar junta has created across Myanmar, the same military that systematically persecuted and exploited Rohingya population for decades for their political gain and committed genocide against this community in 2017 are proceeding with the plan to repatriate the Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh border. While the military play by the same old book, what is shocking is that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and World Food Programme (WFP) – the two UN agencies that are supposed to protect this most vulnerable population – are involved the junta’s plan.
It is crystal clear that it is not the right time for the return of Rohingya refugees to their homeland with complete absence of conditions necessary for their safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return. The UN’s own assessment is that “conditions in Rakhine State are currently not conducive to the sustainable return of Rohingya refugees.” Then, why are the UNHCR and WFP involved in this pilot project?
On 16 March 2023, the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP) obtained an internal communication from UN’s top official in Myanmar, Ramanathan Balakrishnan, the UN Resident Coordinator, that confirmed UN’s involvement in the pilot scheme to repatriate Rohingya refugees. While the UN initially denied its involvement, the email, which was later posted on MAP’s website, confirmed that the UNHCR and WFP provided the boats for military junta travelling to Cox’s Bazar “at the very firm request” of the “de facto authorities”. Aljazeera reported that the weapons were also found on board. The UN once again failed to uphold basic humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality and “do no harm”, and more importantly, such actions further erode the trust of the people of Myanmar in the work of the UN. To add salt to injury, the UN’s statement on the bilateral pilot project further legitimized the Myanmar military junta by addressing the illegal junta’s delegation as the “Myanmar delegation”.
Following the leaked email, over 200 civil society organizations issued a joint statement demanding that the UN Secretary-General intervene and investigate the UNHCR and WFP’s involvement in this so-called ‘Pilot Project’ of Rohingya refugees repatriation. The signatories called on the Secretary-General to “develop an action plan” and urgently implement the “recommendations of the ‘Rosenthal Report’ which found the systemic and institutional failures on the part of the UN in Myanmar leading up to and during the genocide in 2017.”
It has been over five years since the Myanmar military has launched its genocidal campaign against the Rohingya in Rakhine State that drove out more than 800,000 Rohingya to the Bangladesh border. The same military has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against other ethnic and religious minorities including mass killings, rape and gang rape, torture, forced displacement, arbitrary arrests and detention, and burning of villages to ashes. They continue to enjoy blanket impunity fueled by international community’s apathy and inability to hold them accountable.
The so-called repatriation pilot project is a scam, a ploy to bolster military’s legitimacy. A Rohingya refugee who was interviewed by the Myanmar military junta in Bangladesh confirmed that the junta did not discuss citizenship, leading him to question the genuineness of the process. He notes that “[the military junta doesn’t] even call us Rohingya. What guarantee is there that we will be safe if we go back [to Myanmar]?” Several Rohingya activists also shared doubt calling the project a “public relations process,” particularly ahead of the military junta’s plan to hold a sham election.
Recently, the illegal junta once again issued National Verification Cards (NVC) to Rohingya refugees in Rakhine State. By identifying them as “Bengali” or “Muslim/Islam”, the NVC scheme is in fact a genocidal tool that further denies Rohingyas’ political rights as an ethnic group and their birthrights as citizens of Myanmar. It is clear they have no intention of reversing its genocidal policies and ongoing implementation.
The Rohingya refugees who remain in Rakhine State face persecutions and violation of basic human rights including freedom of movement, cut off from access to food and essential services including health, education, and livelihood. On 24 March 2023, Radio Free Asia reported that Rohingya are continuing to flee Myanmar in search of safety and survival, choosing to take dangerous paths at sea at the hands of traffickers to regional countries due to the harsh living conditions in Myanmar. More recently on 27 March, nearly 200 Rohingya landed in Aceh province in Indonesia, having fled desperate conditions in Myanmar, as well as camps in Bangladesh.
Under these circumstances, UN agencies cooperation and involvement with the junta’s repatriation plan would only embolden these perpetrators to commit further atrocity crimes against the Rohingya. The UN and its agencies must prioritize the security and safety of Rohingya refugees and not repeat its past mistakes by putting the lives of refugees at risk in the hands of a genocidal military, who are the root cause of past and current humanitarian and human rights catastrophes in Myanmar. Rather than facilitating the illegal junta’s plans, they must prevent the Rohingya survivors of genocide from being sent back to the killing fields.
One year after US officially classified the Myanmar military’s crimes against the Rohingya as genocide, the future for the Rohingya remains more unclear and uncertain than ever. Prominent Rohingya activist Tun Khin and Refugees International urged the US Government to do more “to support and enable Rohingya refugees. If the United States is to truly support the survivors of genocide, it must help them build their lives back.” Women’s Peace Network also urged the international community to “pursue targeted economic sanctions and financial penalties against the Burmese military” and “consult with Rohingya and its civil society in any mechanism related to their situation, as well as their future in Myanmar.” The situation of the Rohingya cannot be divorced from the current crises in Myanmar. Now more than ever, the international community must heed their recommendations. Importantly, first concrete step in the right direction would be for the UN to correct its past and ongoing systemic failures in its engagement in Myanmar, and for the UN Secretary General to investigate the involvement of UNHCR and WFP in the pilot project.
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[1] One year following the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, the former military junta changed the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar overnight. Progressive Voice uses the term ‘Myanmar’ in acknowledgement that most people of the country use this term. However, the deception of inclusiveness and the historical process of coercion by the former State Peace and Development Council military regime into usage of ‘Myanmar’ rather than ‘Burma’ without the consent of the people is recognized and not forgotten. Thus, under certain circumstances, ‘Burma’ is used.
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Progressive Voice is a participatory, rights-based policy research and advocacy organization that was born out of Burma Partnership. Burma Partnership officially ended its work on October 10, 2016 transitioning to a rights-based policy research and advocacy organization called Progressive Voice. For further information, please see our press release “Burma Partnership Celebrates Continuing Regional Solidarity for Burma and Embraces the Work Ahead for Progressive Voice.”
