Rethinking Bangladesh's stance on Rohingya refugees
The Rohingya are in the 'final stages of genocide' in Burma. Gross human rights violations – death squads, enforced hunger, forced labour, rape, torture, denial of basic healthcare, education, freedom of movement and basic citizenship rights define their existence. Bangladesh's response to these realities in Burma has been to close down its borders. In addition, since 2012 an ad hoc policy framework has been pursued. This includes, intercepting and pushing back boats carrying the Rohingya; banning NGOs providing emergency assistance to Rohingyas arriving at our shores; enforcing a five-year jail term for 'illegal foreigners'; and the banning of marriage between Rohingyas and Bangladeshis.
The bleak reality is that a vast majority of Rohingyas are likely to become victims of the genocide unfolding in Burma. Some will still attempt to cheat death. Knowing that the borders in Bangladesh are closed, they will seek to reach Thailand/Malaysia via the Bay of Bengal, which the UNHCR has called these route three times more dangerous than crossing the Mediterranean. Since Bangladesh closed its borders in 2012, conservative estimates suggest over 5000 Rohingyas have died while undertaking this journey. How many of us have shared the photo of little Aylan's lifeless body lying face down on the Turkish beach after being outraged by European policy? Turns out when Rohingya children are dying at sea, we fail to feel similar levels of anger, indignation and shock.
People smuggling/trafficking networks between Bangladesh, Burma and Thailand have emerged to fulfil the demand of refugees attempting to reach safety. These are ruthless criminal syndicates, involved in holding refugees for ransom and using them as slave-labour in the jungles of Thai-Malaysia borders. Refugees are violated in 'torture chambers', and images of their tortured bodies are sent back to families with demands of ransom. The mass graves discovered in Thai jungles bear testament to the Rohingya experience. Those who are fortunate enough to survive these camps suffer from beriberi, loss of sight, and inability to move properly (due damage to nervous system), not to mention post traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses.
Against all odds, some Rohingyas will manage to trickle into Bangladesh. While the BGB and police patrol the villages in the bordering areas and arrest the so-called 'infiltrators'- poverty-stricken Bangladeshis have stepped in to provide protection to refugees. They share whatever little food they have with the starving Rohingya. However, in the long run, the very real threat of a five-year jail term for entering the country illegally means that some locals take advantage and inflict criminal harm on Rohingyas.
These harms are borne disproportionately by Rohingya women. In 2014, a minor girl was gang raped by local men, but the Rohingya family refused to go to the authorities in fear that they will be sent to jail. Similarly, there have been reports of Rohingya women being repeatedly abducted and raped by local gangs along and other authority figures in the area. When their fathers or husbands attempted to intervene, they were taken away, beaten, falsely accused and subsequently imprisoned.
Moreover, due to the vulnerability of the Rohingya youth caused by their 'illegal' status, they are used as drug mules by established local criminal syndicates operating in the Bangladesh-Burma bordering areas. Rohingyas working in 'legal' areas are also exploited – with employers often underpaying or even refusing to pay for the work carried out, knowing fully well that the refugees have no formal means of redress against them. Thus, the reality of death, disease, violence and the brutalisation of women are utilised as tool to deter Rohingyas from seeking refuge in Bangladesh.
Politics of fear and hate have been employed to paint Rohingyas as terrorists, criminals and prostitutes. While conditions of marginalisation prompt some to turn to crime, police statistics from two areas with the highest levels of undocumented Rohingyas (Teknaf and Ukhia) demonstrate that crimes committed by Rohingyas account for only 5 percent of the total crimes in those areas (Abrar, CR, Shikdar, J 2014 'Cross-border Movement of the Rohingyas from Burma: Exclusion, Vulnerability and Survival Strategies', RMMRU). Moreover, most of were cases of petty theft, and instances of Rohingya involvement in heinous murders and rapes were extremely rare. This is in stark contrast to the official narrative of Rohingya criminogenic tendencies.
Does this technique of scapegoating seem familiar? It is the same burden us Bangladeshis bear for being Muslim (and brown) in the US, Australia and Europe. This is the politics of hate and fear peddled by Trump and other politicians in the west – the vitriolic speech that the masses believe despite limited evidence to support it. We know what it feels like to be victims all too well. Yet we have failed to recognise that we have become victimisers ourselves.
On the other end of the spectrum, statements which do not vilify Rohingyas but justify their exclusion are also commonplace. 'We are a poor and weak country and cannot afford to host them'- just imagine if India had said the same in 1971! 'The Rohingya issue is a long term problem and they will keep coming'- firstly, humanity should not operate on deadlines. Secondly, the majority of Rohingyas who came during previous waves have returned to Burma or have been resettled elsewhere. Regardless of the time frame – opening our borders saves them from immediate and certain danger. 'Hosting them would affect our relationship with Myanmar' – If saving lives affects our short term ties- that is a sacrifice we should be willing to make for justice and humanity.
We should be embarrassed of our inertia in questioning false propaganda that paints helpless refugees as criminals and terrorists. This is our chance as a country, whose first government was formed and operated in exile, to reciprocate the kindness the world and our neighbours showed us in times of our dire need.
The writer is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne and researches on state crime, refugees and genocide.