A Rohingya Republic: permanent solution of the Rohingya crisis

by Shwe Lu Maung

Reviewed and polished by Saba Khan, Esq.

We need a permanent solution for the Rohingya Crisis.

On the 21 of February, 2022, the ICJ heard “the preliminary objections raised by Myanmar” in the case of Gambia’s charges on Myanmar for the genocide against the Rohingya. The case began in September 2019. It will easily drag on another ten years.

We all know that the ICJ is not a solution to the Rohingya Crisis. Even if the ICJ convicts Myanmar guilty of the genocide it will not help the Rohingya peoples live happy and healthy as the rightful citizens of Myanmar, inside Myanmar. It will rather increase hostility towards the Rohingya under the Burma Citizenship Act of 1982.

Following the example of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), we all want to help the Rohingya who has been stripped and beaten to near death – a possible genocide that is on trial at the ICJ.

Therefore, I will be factual and down to the points that I have described vividly in my published books.

1. There is no way that the Rohingya will be able to voluntarily return and peacefully live in Myanmar. Rather, it is highly possible that those Rohingya who are still inside Myanmar have to run today or tomorrow.

2. Out of two million Rohingya, only about 500,000 are left inside Burma; 73% have been driven out.

3. The “Clearance Operation-2017” that became genocidal was just a finishing touch of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on an “unfinished job” of the “Bengali problem.” No doubt, there will be more generals coming up to “finish” the “unfinished job.” Myanmar, from her seven Defence Services Academies, produces more than one thousand commissioned officers each year. For example please see the news clip given here

Therefore, sending the Rohingya back to Myanmar will be just like throwing a chicken into the den of jackals. Do we want to do it? Indeed, with more than twenty Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) and not less than fifty armed People’s Defence Forces (PDFs), in addition to a rogue army, Myanmar surely is a den of the jackals. A UN-protected Rohingya Territory inside Myanmar is nothing but an illusion – “opium-eater’s dream” in Burmese idiom.

The Rohingya Republic

The best solution is to create a Rohingya Republic in a suitable place on this planet. Imagine a Rohingya sovereign nation, member state of the United Nations, capable of reclaiming its ancestral land in Myanmar – a nightmare of Myanmar!

How can we have such a Rohingya Republic?

1. Bangladesh may give independence to the Rohingya people and declared formation of the Rohingya Republic that will have the jurisdiction over the Kutupalong and other refugee camps, and making Banshan Char its capital. See the conceptual illustration of the Rohingya Republic with its capital, Bhasan Char. Bangladesh has nothing more to lose but gain honor and respect in the world.

Or –

2. Indonesia may consider giving one or parts of 17,508 islands she has.

Or

3. One or three to four Islamic States can jointly donate land for the Rohingya Republic.

Please see the given map with a large area (in the red dots and spots) of continuous OIC member states, across three continents, totaling 25.5 million square kilometers. It should not be a big problem to place the Rohingya Republic in any suitable zone in the given area of the Islamic World.

For two million Rohingya, all we need is a piece of land, say, 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles), slightly bigger than New York City. In the total land area of 778.19 square kilometers (300.46 square miles) of the New York City, the Borough of Brooklyn (250 square kilometers or 97 square miles) accommodates a population 2.7 million, more than the present Rohingya population.

Therefore, out of the 1,300 square kilometers, if 300 square kilometers are designated for urbanization there still left 1,000 square kilometers for agriculture and industries.

Here, it is considered that the Islamic Ummah will be more sympathetic to the Rohingya cause, and hence, will be willing individually or collectively to give away such a chunk of area to the Rohingya. All the Muslim countries together make up to 31.6 million square kilometers, 21.2% of all the world land area, 148.94 million square kilometers. The grateful Rohingya Republic will be a proud member of the OIC.

Pros and Cons

When they have their own ancestral land that is fertile and lush green, how can I suggest a rehab in a faraway and strange land? This is the most powerful and legitimate question.

The point though is that however green and fertile it may be, it has become infested with violence that cannot be exterminated in the foreseeable future. The infestation is so big that its roots go deep down to the past seven hundred years. Starting with today, if we attentively stroll along Myanmar history we will hardly find a decade free of war in the past one thousand years.

The creation of a Rohingya Republic is humanistic.  The Rohingya also own this planet Earth. Considering the great miseries they face, why can’t we give them a piece of our planet so that they can form their own republic and determine their own destiny- free, fair, and happy? Good or bad, let them manage their affairs by themselves. This is the most honorable and feasible solution in the shortest time.

Surely, there will be enormous challenges posed by the climate, geography, and technology. However, the humble Rohingya are intelligent, hardworking and resilient. I am confident that giving an opportunity they will shine.  If there is a will there is way.

Let us be truthful that, every year, millions of people legally or illegally migrate to a third country in search of freshwater and new pasture. Migration is part and parcel of human history and civilization.

Let us be pragmatic. There always is a time when the captain solemnly orders, “Abandon the ship.”  Myanmar is a sinking failed nation.

The End

Shwe Lu Maung

February 24, 2022