{"id":118601,"date":"2021-09-26T22:48:52","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T04:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=118601"},"modified":"2021-09-26T15:35:27","modified_gmt":"2021-09-26T22:35:27","slug":"why-sri-lanka-should-mediate-in-solving-rohingya-refugee-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/09\/26\/why-sri-lanka-should-mediate-in-solving-rohingya-refugee-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Sri Lanka should Mediate in Solving Rohingya Refugee Crisis?"},"content":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

For decades, Myanmar has gone through extreme cruelty to the Rohingya. Never cared about the law. The Rohingya problem is not new to Bangladesh. This problem, which started in 1978, became apparent in August 2017. More than 1 million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh to save their lives when the Myanmar army launched a brutal operation against the Rohingya ethnic group. Bangladesh is seeking the intervention of the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations as well as the regional alliance ASEAN for a lasting and acceptable solution to the Rohingya problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now\nBangladesh is facing serious problems for this artificial crisis committed by\nMyanmar.  Some socio-economic threats are\nrising in Bangladesh. Bangladesh\nhas given shelter to Rohingyas for humanitarian reasons. But because of this\nhumanity, the country is now at risk. As a result, there is a danger of\nRohingyas spreading all over the country, there are also many challenges<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nforest is being uprooted, they are cutting down the mountains and destroying\nthem. There are also long-term economic risks Socio-economic and political\nproblems may also be evident, and security risks may increase. Illegal\nnarcotics trade, human trafficking, prostitution, terrorism in Rohingya camps\nis increasing in camps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh\nand Myanmar signed an agreement to repatriate the Rohingya to Myanmar within\ntwo years in 2017 and 2019 respectively. The Myanmar authority did not take\nback the Rohingyas according to the agreement. It is true that they don\u2019t want\nto repatriate Rohingyas in Myanmar. Bangladesh raised the issue in every\ninternational forum. Many countries have supported Bangladesh. But Myanmar has\nno respect the international law and norms. Some mighty powers may have behind\nthe scene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bangladesh\nPrime Minister has raised the issue at UNGA on September 25, 2021 to draw the\nattention in solving the Rohingya crisis. She has focused specially on the\nengagement of ASEAN leaders. It is ASEAN which can solve Rohingya refugee\nproblem easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\na South Asian country and well trusted friends of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka can\neasily solve it. Sri Lanka can be mediator in this regard. Sri Lanka has very\nwarm relations with both Myanmar and Bangladesh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Various\ncountries and international organizations have taken various measures to solve\nthe Rohingya problem. Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized\nMyanmar authorities for being lax in repatriating displaced Rohingya. UN\nSecretary General Antonio Guterres has expressed deep concern over the ongoing\nRohingya crisis. Yang Lee, the UN special envoy for human rights in Myanmar,\nsaid all major countries in the world had a responsibility to resolve the\nRohingya crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthis regard, Sri Lanka can and should play a very significant role to solve the\ncrisis such ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Sri\nLanka can support Bangladesh at every international forum such as at UNGA,\nregional conference. They can vote in favor of Bangladesh. They can raise the\nissue in BIMSTEC and SAARC platforms.<\/strong><\/li>
  2. Sri\nLanka can negotiate with Myanmar diplomatically and bilaterally. It has good bilateral\nrelations with Myanmar)<\/strong><\/li>
  3. Sri\nLanka can engage with others regional states to solve the crisis. <\/strong><\/li>
  4. Sri\nLanka\u2019s Buddhist society can play an effective role in this regard. The relations\nof Theravada Buddhists between Myanmar and Sri Lanka are well established. Sri\nLankan Buddhist can do it very easily. Buddhism is more related to\nestablishment of Peace and non-violence. Sri Lankan Buddhists can play a\nsignificant role in this regard. They can exercise the path shown by the\nfounder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha. Buddhist will be recognized as the Avatar\nof human rights if Buddhist community plays to role in solving Rohingya crisis.\nIt will ensure the regional to some extant World peace and communal harmony.<\/strong><\/li>
  5. Sri\nLanka\u2019s businessmen can engage to some extent. Because stability in the region\nis very needed for investment.<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Why\nshould Sri Lanka Mediate to solve the Problem?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. This\nissue is a humanitarian issue. Rohingyas are the son of Land in Rakhine in\nMyanmar. They have birth rights to reside in Myanmar. <\/strong><\/li>
    2. It is an issue of Justice. According to\nLuther king Junior, Nelson Mandela <\/strong>“Injustice\nanywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.\u201d Myanmar authority committed\ngenocide. The perpetrators should be under international legal jurisdiction. <\/strong><\/strong><\/li>
    3. It is the issue of region. The whole South\nAsia and South East Asia may be volatile for this issue. As a South Asian\nstate, Sri Lanka has some responsibilities. <\/strong><\/strong><\/li>
    4. Sri\nLanka has very good relations with both Myanmar and Bangladesh.<\/strong><\/li>
    5. Enhancing bilateral relations could\ncontribute to the growth of trade and investment relations with ASEAN and SAARC\ncountries. This will create an opportunity to serve grater regional interest.<\/strong><\/li>
    6. Re-establishing the Himalayan-South Asian connectivity\ncan occur if political and diplomatic solutions of Bangladesh-Myanmar strained\nties can be found.<\/strong><\/li>
    7. Bangladesh has been supporting Sri\nLanka at every international forum. For example, in a vote on March 23, the UN\nHuman Rights Council has been given a mandate to collect and preserve\ninformation and evidence of crimes related to Sri Lanka’s civil war. In the\nresolution brought by Britain on behalf of a group of countries, 22 countries\nvoted in favor of the text, 11 opposed and 14 abstained, including Sri Lanka’s neighbors,\nIndia and Nepal, and most Muslim majority countries. Bangladesh, Pakistan and\nUzbekistan voted against the motion. Now it is time and duty for Sri Lanka to\nstand in favor of Bangladesh in her crisis moment.<\/strong><\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      However, Bangladesh has\nagreed with Sri Lanka to promote bi-lateral trade, work together in maritime\nsecurity sector like Colombo Security Conclave. Bangladesh-Myanmar-Sri Lanka\ncan work together in maritime trilateral trade, counter terrorism approach,\ntourism if the problem between Bangladesh-Myanmar is solved. On the other\nhands, Bangladesh has contribution to Sri Lanka. Bangladesh is <\/strong>providing $250\nmillion loan assistance to Sri Lanka through currency swap. Sri Lanka sought\nthis loan assistance from Bangladesh. This (assistance) proves that Bangladesh\nis always sincere in regional cooperation. Bangladesh\nwill lend $250 million to Sri Lanka as part of Bangladesh\u2019s efforts to support\nthe island nation suffering from a foreign exchange crisis. <\/strong>Sri Lanka should\nconsider this. Sri Lanka should do somethings in favor of Bangladesh regarding\nRohingya refugee repatriation to Myanmar. Sri Lanka can make Myanmar understand\nand agree in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Sri\nLanka can play a very significant role in this regard. Sri Lanka can mediate to\nbolster the strained relations between Bangladesh-Myanmar. Sri Lanka can play\nto repatriate the Rohingyas in Rakhine in Myanmar. Sri Lanka can easily solve\nthe problem because it has a very good relations with Myanmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      However,\nas a well-wisher friend and partner in the development process and trade,\nBangladesh can expect cooperation and support of Sri Lanka regarding the\nrepatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. Bangladesh deserves it. So,\nSri Lanka should help, support Bangladesh and mediate in solving the crisis as\nsoon as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      MD Pathik Hasan For decades, Myanmar has gone through extreme cruelty to the Rohingya. Never cared about the law. The Rohingya problem is not new to Bangladesh. This problem, which started in 1978, became apparent in August 2017. More than 1 million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh to save their lives when the Myanmar army launched […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-md-pathik-hasan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118601\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}