Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3021950/why-forcing-rohingya-go-back-myanmar-will-not-have-happy-ending
Comment/ Letters

Why forcing the Rohingya to go back to Myanmar will not have a happy ending

  • Countries planning to send Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar must understand that the plan is to isolate them in separate settlements
  • The United Nations and world leaders must verify information received from the Myanmar government with the Rohingya in the country
A Rohingya woman and her child are detained at a police station after a fishing boat carrying more than 60 Rohingya refugees was found beached at Rawi island in Thailand on June 12. Photo: Reuters

I am writing on behalf of the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia to express our deep concern about plans for the forced deportation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. We urge the countries who intend to deport Rohingya back to Myanmar to stop these plans. Sending Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar means sending them to their deaths, which is in breach of international law.

We condemn any forced deportation involving Rohingya and urge the United Nations, world leaders and the international community to open their minds, hearts and eyes to our plight as people who have been victims of genocide. The Myanmar government’s propaganda against the Rohingya population is well known. The UN, world leaders and the international community at large must be very careful when receiving information concerning the Rohingya from the Myanmar government and thoroughly check this information, verifying it with the Rohingya back home.

We were shocked by the announcement made by Myanmar government officials that the Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh will not be able to claim their land and may find their crops have been harvested and sold by the government. It is ridiculous for the government to benefit from our toil and to rob our land and crops.

We urge the Myanmar government to harvest the crops and send them to the Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh. There are about 45,000 acres of planted rice paddy abandoned by the Rohingya. The Myanmar government would gain millions of dollars from selling that rice.

Meanwhile, the Myanmar government has been creating model villages for the Rohingya. We are against these plans as we are sure that they will be a concentration camp, where we will be denied access to food, clean water, medicine and education. We will perish silently, and without seeing justice done, in these so-called model villages. The Myanmar government has made these plans to eliminate the Rohingya and take over our land and property for their trade and investment.

We urge the UN, world leaders and the international community to intervene urgently to save our lives.

Zafar Ahmad bin Abdul Ghani, president, Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur