World must pressure Myanmar to end Rohingya crisis
UALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 -- The international community needs to be more coherent in urging international bodies to pressure the Myanmar government to act on resolving the Rohingya humanitarian crisis that has erupted in Rakhine state since 2017.
Professor in the Department of Government and Civilisation at the Faculty of Human Ecology of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Prof Dr Zaid Ahmad, said the global bodies must coerce Myanmar in order to force the country to act.
“The world needs to put pressure on Myanmar. It may be through economic pressure or diplomacy as the last resort.
"The UN and ASEAN need to go out of their way to call on Myanmar to come up with a solution to the Rohingya crisis," he said when contacted by Bernama International News Service, today.
The Rohingya crisis once again attracted the attention of the world when Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahahtir Mohamad, in a high-level event billed 'Rohingya Crisis - A Way Forward' at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, criticised the UN and Myanmar's failure to take action to resolve the problem.
Although it has been reported that Myanmar has taken several steps, including signing an agreement with the government of Bangladesh to allow Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar to return to their home country, the move is largely seen as a cosmetic solution as the majority of refugees are refusing to accept the offer due to security concerns and the fear of continuous repression.
An estimated 1.2 million Rohingya refugees are still living in refugee camps throughout the Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.
"Various efforts and approaches have been taken by the parties in the past but to no avail. Moreover, the UN is seen as toothless, thus making Myanmar more courageous and ignoring the world's call to action on this issue," Zaid said.
Meanwhile, analyst Oh Ei Sun said Dr Mahathir's speech at the event is timely and necessary, and should serve as a wake-up call for the world bodies and the global community to act.
“It is not just the UN, but the global community as a whole which is still hesitating whether to impose harsh sanctions against Myanmar for its treatment of the Rohingyas, or to continue with ‘nurturing’ Myanmar’s supposedly burgeoning democracy,” he said.
Oh, who is a senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, also said the situation had worsened as Myanmar does not see it as a crisis, but a problem which should be resolved by getting the Rohingyas to assimilate into mainstream Myanmar cultural identity through suppressing the Rohingya inspiration using military means as it had been doing with its other minorities.
He also proposed that the UN should have a mandate and corresponding resources to provide humanitarian aids, both inside and outside of Myanmar, and to deploy sizeable peacekeepers to make sure that the atrocities are not repeated.
He is optimistic that the UN has the means and resources to do so in order to help end the persecution faced by the Rohingyas.
“UN has been doing similar things in many parts of the world, including the Middle East and Africa, for quite a long time, so is quite experienced in it,” Oh added.
Professor in the Department of Government and Civilisation at the Faculty of Human Ecology of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Prof Dr Zaid Ahmad, said the global bodies must coerce Myanmar in order to force the country to act.
“The world needs to put pressure on Myanmar. It may be through economic pressure or diplomacy as the last resort.
"The UN and ASEAN need to go out of their way to call on Myanmar to come up with a solution to the Rohingya crisis," he said when contacted by Bernama International News Service, today.
The Rohingya crisis once again attracted the attention of the world when Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahahtir Mohamad, in a high-level event billed 'Rohingya Crisis - A Way Forward' at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, criticised the UN and Myanmar's failure to take action to resolve the problem.
Although it has been reported that Myanmar has taken several steps, including signing an agreement with the government of Bangladesh to allow Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar to return to their home country, the move is largely seen as a cosmetic solution as the majority of refugees are refusing to accept the offer due to security concerns and the fear of continuous repression.
An estimated 1.2 million Rohingya refugees are still living in refugee camps throughout the Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.
"Various efforts and approaches have been taken by the parties in the past but to no avail. Moreover, the UN is seen as toothless, thus making Myanmar more courageous and ignoring the world's call to action on this issue," Zaid said.
Meanwhile, analyst Oh Ei Sun said Dr Mahathir's speech at the event is timely and necessary, and should serve as a wake-up call for the world bodies and the global community to act.
“It is not just the UN, but the global community as a whole which is still hesitating whether to impose harsh sanctions against Myanmar for its treatment of the Rohingyas, or to continue with ‘nurturing’ Myanmar’s supposedly burgeoning democracy,” he said.
Oh, who is a senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, also said the situation had worsened as Myanmar does not see it as a crisis, but a problem which should be resolved by getting the Rohingyas to assimilate into mainstream Myanmar cultural identity through suppressing the Rohingya inspiration using military means as it had been doing with its other minorities.
He also proposed that the UN should have a mandate and corresponding resources to provide humanitarian aids, both inside and outside of Myanmar, and to deploy sizeable peacekeepers to make sure that the atrocities are not repeated.
He is optimistic that the UN has the means and resources to do so in order to help end the persecution faced by the Rohingyas.
“UN has been doing similar things in many parts of the world, including the Middle East and Africa, for quite a long time, so is quite experienced in it,” Oh added.
Comments
Post a Comment