Orders based on international rules have failed for Rohingyas' who have spent 10 years in Myanmar's concentration camps.
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June marks a decade of hardship for the Rohingya population in Myanmar's Rakhine state, from which they have been evicted and are now living in open detention camps. Attacks on the Rohingya population in 2012 ushered in an era of escalating atrocities. Which laid the groundwork for a more vicious and systematic military clampdown in 2016 and finally in 2017 that led to the mass exodus of nearly one million helpless people to neighboring Bangladesh. The current situation of Rohingyas living in Myanmar is worse than it was a decade ago, without any concrete solution.
2012 remained a dark year where sectarian violence erupted between a Buddhist and the Rohingya over a heinous sexual violation and the murder of a Buddhist woman. The Rohingya Muslims were implicated in the crime mainly through public verdicts and without any formal trial as details of the heinous crime were circulated locally.
The Rohingya Muslims were implicated in the crime mainly through public verdicts and without any formal trial as details of the heinous crime were circulated locally.
After the brutal killing of 10 Rohingyas in retaliation, the state of Rakhine was in a state of total chaos as massacres and vandalism took place on a large scale. Given that the violence could soon spread to other regions, a state of emergency was declared. This led to new attacks on the Rohingya who are now being charged with almost every crime. Thus, this neglected community was removed from their property, fired from their work, and forced to either surrender or die. More than 135,000 displaced Rohingya were housed in 24 camps set up in 2012 and 2013 while some of them fled to neighboring countries.
Safety, Wash and Health Concerns
The camps are similar to what the UN describes as detention centers, as many restrictions are placed on anyone's movements inside and outside the camps. Checkpoints have been set up every few meters. Journalists are barred from visiting and travel outside the information due to internet cuts. Camps are fenced off to keep people out. Police misconduct is notorious for curfews, intimidation and bribery.
The camps are filled with serious worries of washing. Most of the camp area is in the low-lying coastal areas. During monsoons and annual floods, toilet pits are washed away, hand pumps and wells are polluted. This results in waterborne diseases, for example, acute diarrhea and cholera, especially in children. Children have died for decades after drowning in rare protected toilet pits and ponds. Until April 2022, Junta has placed restrictions on the construction or remodeling of structures requiring restoration work in the camp area. This has left 28,000 Rohingyas in unsustainable long homes.
People with serious health problems need to be moved to Sittwe General Hospital but cannot be admitted due to movement restrictions, restricted permits and financial difficulties.
In terms of health facilities, two health care centers and some casual clinics are operating in the camp area. While it is difficult to reach those living in remote areas of the camps, these centers do not have professional or specialist doctors, adequate medicine and equipment for treatment. Moreover, such clinics lack Covid-19 testing facilities. To date, no official announcement has been made on how many displaced Rohingya have been vaccinated.
People with serious health problems need to be moved to Sittwe General Hospital but cannot be admitted due to movement restrictions, restricted permits and financial difficulties. A handful of those receiving treatment are placed under security guard. At times, most people are afraid to go out for treatment for fear of not coming back alive.
There is also the problem of food insecurity in the camp area. Since any kind of business or cash gain is prohibited, these people rely solely on aid and relief materials from humanitarian workers. But due to the ongoing war between the military and ethnic armed groups, these workers have difficulty working due to restrictions on movement. Climate and difficult terrain are some of the other problems they face. This limits their ability to consistently provide food security to displaced Rohingya and thus increases the incidence of malnutrition among children and adults. The coup has hampered the implementation of adequate measures. While food aid can be provided to 56,000 IDPs in conflict areas, hundreds and thousands more are in need.
Failed Intervention
Authorities in Myanmar have been ineffective in providing any legitimate justification for such arbitrary detention. Although the displaced Rohingya have endured decades of systematic oppression and cruelty, the 2012 incident opened a long-term maneuver to deal with them; This tactic, however, has not changed much.
Since any kind of business or cash gain is prohibited, these people rely solely on aid and relief materials from humanitarian workers.
Once the democratic government came to power it was thought that the problems would go away, however, the complex civil-military relations have failed to properly resolve the issue.
Both civilian and military government policies have failed to address growing hatred and Buddhist centralization; He did not hold anyone accountable for the crimes he committed against them, nor did he promote secularism. Thus, by not taking effective and appropriate action to protect vulnerable communities, government officials themselves have become perpetrators of violence and are later helping to further marginalize this community.
Despite the plight of these people, the words of international nations and organizations have been ignored. The Biden administration recently declared years of repression of Myanmar's Rohingya population, based on its own extensive research, as "genocide." While this label does not suggest creating new action against the junta, it does increase the international burden on the government, in addition to allegations of genocide in international courts. It is important for the international community to continue to speak out against the inhumane conditions of the Rohingya. Of course, they deserve decades of imprisonment.
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