News Analysis: The Rohingya should be treated as our own

What is another million when we already have 160 million ourselves? The prime minister’s sentiment is actually true except that the 160 million she mentioned are Bangladeshis and mostly left to their own devices for a livelihood. Now that the prime minister’s comments will have triggered a predictable sycophantic frenzy of about face among the most voluble and violent critics of Rohingya, it is probably time to recognise that we will not be able to wish them away, however much we want to. The well over million Rohingya who will have been sheltered in Bangladesh before the yearend, will probably be the highest concentration and one of the few unfortunate examples where an entire ethnic community has been uprooted, an instance of successful ethnic cleansing while the world watched. The Rohingya have been fleeing Myanmar in search of refuge for almost four decades now. And they are not going back. To begin with, Myanmar is not going to turn around and say, “My bad. So sorry. Come along folks. Lets start over.” Not with China and India cajoling and coaxing the regime. But even if by a miracle Myanmar did say that, the Rohingyas would hardly return. A father who watched his five year old shot, a girl who saw her parents mutilated, people who saw their homes burnt will simply not accept the assurances of the very people who had turned on them. Indeed, if I were a Rohingya I would run and hide in the densest darkest patch of the Sundarbans. I would dread repatriation if I were a Rohingya. What it basically comes down to is that Bangladesh will have become the new home of the Rohingya for all intents and purposes. But the government has to pretend that it is a ‘temporary problem’ perhaps because of all kinds of political considerations. Easy acceptance of the Rohingya as permanent residents might encourage India to push in a few hundred thousand unwanted Muslims too, for instance. Be that as it may, there is simply no getting around the point that the Rohigya are here and they are not going anywhere. Bangladesh needs to realise it is a ‘permanent situation’ and change up how to go about it. There should be calls for other countries to pull their share of housing the Rohingya. The obvious candidates, playing the religion card, would be the oil rich gulf countries besides of course Turkey. Then there is Europe or even the North and South American countries. The government realises that it will not be able to feed and care for so many people but it seems to be holding out for eventual repatriation, which won’t happen. As soon as this sinks in, however, the authorities will realise that there will never be enough funds to care for the refugees. Hence, they must earn their keep whether through food for work schemes of the government or proper paying jobs. As such the Rohingya must be allowed civic amenities and privileges — citizenship should only be a protracted inevitibility — to make a living and stop being a burden. That the Rohingya engage in criminal activity is but natural given that they cannot get proper employment. It will be in everyone’s interest to make sure that Rohingya children receive proper education and health care so that they can take care of their parents and their children. Sooner or later they will have adopted this country. Might as well treat them as our own.