Stateless Rohingya put faith in Bangladesh leader Yunus

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh — Hours before ex-Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country in the face of a student-led uprising, Mohammad Sabur and his family were escaping civil war in neighboring Myanmar.

Caught in fierce fighting between rebels and government troops, the family of Rohingya tried to cross a river and toward the relative safety of Bangladesh. But all five of Sabur’s children drowned after their boat capsized, the youngest victim just three and a half.

Weeks later, a distraught Sabur and his wife now sleep under a blue tarpaulin tent in Cox’s Bazar, home to the world’s biggest refugee camp. An estimated 1.3 million Rohingya live in perpetual uncertainty here as stateless people who fled Myanmar over what the United Nations calls “a textbook case” of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

But shock events in Bangladesh that put Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus in charge of a caretaker government — and removed Hasina, who was hostile to the Rohingya’s presence — has given some fresh hope that the refugee crisis might be resolved.

Sabur, a former nongovernmental organization worker, is familiar with Yunus and his pioneering efforts on microcredit loans for the poor.

“I know how famous Dr. Yunus is and how his works have reduced poverty,” the 42-year-old told Nikkei Asia. “He is also known for his humanitarian efforts. I hope our rights in the camp will be protected under his government.”

Yunus has a huge job steering a country rocked by political unrest and a shattered economy, and his ability to revive stalled efforts to solve the Rohingya crisis remains to be seen. Last week, he gave assurances to diplomats and U.N. officials that his interim government “will continue to support” Rohingya taking refuge in the South Asian nation.

“For all we heard about Hasina’s effective management of Bangladesh’s complex and sensitive Rohingya refugee challenge, her government had long sought to repatriate many of those refugees to a country where they would not be safe,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington. “I suspect the interim government will put the brakes on repatriation plans for now and look to develop a different policy.”

A Rohingya refugee family who arrived in August at the world’s biggest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh (Photo by Faisal Mahmud)

Buddhist-majority Myanmar does not consider mostly Muslim Rohingya as an Indigenous group, referring to them as “Bengalis” and effectively rendering them stateless.

Refugee Mohammad Nur, 24, is optimistic about the unfolding situation in his adopted country.

“I want to become a doctor and need the opportunity to study medicine,” said Nur, who arrived at the camp in 2017 and didn’t finish high school. “I urge the new Bangladeshi government to provide us with educational opportunities so we can secure decent jobs.”

Tens of thousands at the camps marked the seventh “Rohingya Genocide Day” last Sunday, with crowds pouring into a field and chanting slogans such as “we want rights” and “ensure our dignified return to Myanmar.”

The event remembers one of the worst refugee crises on record when about 750,000 Rohingya fled across the Myanmar-Bangladesh border in 2017 seeking refuge from rape, beatings and extrajudicial killings carried out by Myanmar’s military. It was the largest influx of Rohingya since an exodus that began decades ago.

After the mass flight, the two countries signed an agreement on starting Rohingya repatriation, but despite repeated promises, Myanmar has not created favorable conditions for their return.

The events that led to Sabur’s flight this month — and the tragic death of his children — were triggered by a new wave of violence in Rakhine State on Bangladesh’s border.

Arakan Army rebels fighting the Myanmar military, which seized power in a 2021 coup, had been advancing on the government-controlled border town of Maungdaw and were bombarding the area with heavy artillery.

As the fighting drew to closer to Sabur’s home in Maungdaw, he realized that he and his family had to flee immediately or risk being killed.

“The Arakan Army was attacking us with drones and rocket launchers while we were waiting by the river,” he said. “Our boats capsized during our frantic escape.”

Rohingya refugee Zahed Hossain, 55, hopes to one day return to his home in conflict-wracked Myanmar. (Photo by Faisal Mahmud)

Just a day later, Hasina’s government collapsed. When she fled the country, many Bangladeshi border guards reassigned to quash protests in Dhaka and other cities also went into hiding.

That left the border unguarded and vulnerable. At least 2,000 more Rohingya have entered Bangladesh from Myanmar since the beginning of August.

A local border commander, who returned to his post after several days of hiding, confirmed to Nikkei the significant increase in refugee arrivals — and efforts to block more from spilling across the frontier.

“We have detained at least two dozen new Rohingya refugees today,” said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.

Unverified reports said at least 200 people, mostly Rohingya, were killed in the fresh fighting in what would mark one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in Myanmar’s civil war.

On Friday, U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Turk expressed concern about the worsening situation in Myanmar, noting the rising death toll and thousands more who have fled a major offensive by the Arakan Army, including the battle that Sabur’s family was escaping.

Amnesty International warned that the violence against Rohingya in Rakhine state “is eerily similar to the atrocities committed in 2017.”

With Yunus now in power, his global celebrity could help push the international community toward intensifying diplomatic and economic pressure on Myanmar to end the civil war and find a permanent solution for Rohingya refugees who fled the country, said Shahab Enam Khan, a professor of international relations at Dhaka’s Jahangirnagar University.

“The Western powers, along with China and Japan as the key Eastern influencers, have a high level of confidence in Dr. Yunus,” Khan told Nikkei, “So, Yunus’ potential to influence global powers is expected to play a significant role in strengthening the Rohingya repatriation process,” he added.

Back at the sprawling camp, 55-year-old Zahed Hossain clings to hope that one day he will return to his village in Rakhine state.

“My heart aches for my home,” he said. “I appeal to [Yunus] to ensure our safe return to Myanmar.”

Mohammad Sabur’s original name has been changed to protect his identity.

source : asia.nikkei