Anirban Bhaumik, DH News Service, New Delhi, Sep 5 2017, 10:51 IST
India is likely to tread cautiously on the issue of violence against Rohingyas in Rakhine State of Myanmar during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the neighbouring country. reuters file photo
India is likely to tread cautiously on the issue of violence against Rohingyas in Rakhine State of Myanmar during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the neighbouring country.
Modi, who will commence his visit to Nay Pyi Daw on Tuesday, will be the first foreign leader to meet Myanmar's State Counsellor or de-facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi after she drew flak from around the world in the wake of the recent military crackdown on Rohingyas in Rakhine State of her country.
With Modi's Government in New Delhi itself signalling its plan to deport Rohingyas illegally taking shelter in India, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on Monday reminded it of its international obligations and nudged it not to send back the persecuted people to same place where they were displaced from and could still face danger.
Prime Minister is visiting Myanmar at a time when the security forces of the neighbouring country have been accused of committing atrocities against Rohingyas while carrying out an offensive against insurgents of rebel Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in its northwestern Rakhine State.
The military crackdown started after the rebels killed 12 security personnel on August 25. Several human rights organizatioins alleged that nearly 400 Rohingya Muslims – mostly civilians – have been killed and a large number of villages were burnt down by the armed forced of Myanmar over the past few days. This resulted in an exodus of Rohingyas from Myanmar and the United Nations on Monday said nearly 87000 people of the community had so far crossed over to neighbouring Bangladesh.
The minority Rohingyas have since been victims of persecution in the Rakhine State, where Buddhists constitute the majority. They have been denied citizenship and most of them have been stateless, despite living for generations in Myanmar.
Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for leading the people's movement against the military junta in Myanmar, however, was criticized for failing to end atrocities against Rohingyas although her National League for Democracy now runs the government after winning the November 2015 elections.
Her posts in social media on the recent violence in Rakhine State were also accused to be biased against the Rohingyas. She was called upon by Malala Yousafzai, another Nobel Peace Laureate and education activist, on Tuesday to condemn the violence against Rohingyas.
Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, expressed his deep concern over reports “of excesses during the security operations conducted by Myanmar's security forces in Rakhine State”. He called for “restraint and calm” to avoid “a humanitarian catastrophe”. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Indonesian President Joko Widodo also said that violence against Rohingyas in Rakhine should end immediately. Widodo sent his foreign minister Retno Marsudi to Nay Pyi Daw to discuss the situation with Suu Kyi and other leaders of Myanmar. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan too condemned the violence against Rohingyas and called up leaders of several other nations to discuss the issue.
Though Suu Kyi and the government led by her have come under renewed pressure to stop the violence against Rohingyas, Modi is unlikely to embarrass his hosts in Nay Pyi Daw.
New Delhi is rather relying on Myanmar Government's assurance that it is giving “very careful and positive consideration” to the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, which was headed by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
“We will be discussing (during Prime Minister's visit) how India can help them in addressing the situation that is prevailing in the state (Rakhine),” said Sripriya Ranganathan, Joint Secretary (Bangladesh-Myanmar) at the Ministry of External Affairs headquarters in New Delhi.
India has been focussing on encouraging Myanmar Government to find ways of stimulating socio-economic development in the Rakhine State.
“We have also tried to focus some of our own direct developmental work by activities in the (Rakhine) State, as you know the Kaladan Multi Modal Transport Transit Project actually commences in the Rakhine State,” Ranghathan told journalists in New Delhi. “We are very confident that once that complete corridor is functional, there will be a positive impact on the situation in the state and we will continue to work with the Government of Myanmar to see how much more we can do to support this.”
The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transport Transit Project is being funded by Government of India. It is aimed at linking Mizoram state in northeast India to the Bay of Bengal through Chin and Rakhine State of Myanmar. The project consists of a new jetty in Sittwe Port in Rakhine State, an inland water transport corridor to Paletwa in southern Chin State and a highway from Paletwa to India-Myanmar border. “If completed, the project could significantly improve connectivity in the area, and possibly improve Rakhine’s access to markets in India,” Annan-led panel wrote about the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transport Transit Project in its report.
The Sittwe Port, the Inland Water Transport terminals at Sittwe and Paletwa, back-up facilities and navigational channel have already been completed. All the six self-propelled Inland Water Transport vessels are also ready. The work on road component has begun and is targeted to be finished in three years. Certain additional waterway works are scheduled for completion by April 2019, Minister of State for External Affairs, V K Singh, has informed Parliament in response to a question on July 26.
Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs, had early last month told Parliament that the Government had initiated moves to identify and deport illegal immigrants, including the Rohingyas. This prompted many human rights organizations express concerns over fate of the Rohingyas refugees in India, mostly in camps in Delhi, Hyderbad and Jammu.
The UNHCR's office in New Delhi on Monday said that around 16, 500 Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers registered with the agency were living in India. “The UNHCR appreciates the protection afforded by India to this group and notes the country’s long proud history of solidarity with people fleeing violence,” it said in response to a query from the DH.
India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention. The UNHCR, however, stated that the “principle of non-refoulement” (or not sending back refugees to a place where they face danger) was considered “part of customary international law and therefore binding on all states whether they have signed the Refugee Convention or not”.
“In addition,” it reminded, “India is party to major international human rights instruments such as International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Convention on the Rights of the Child”.