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'Protect Rohingyas'

Fortify Rights calls upon Modi govt not to drive out the refugees

Staff Correspondent
Indian authorities beat and threatened Rohingyas, forcing some to flee to Bangladesh in recent weeks, said Fortify Rights yesterday.
"India should urgently protect Rohingya genocide survivors seeking safety and not force them out of the country," said Matthew Smith, chief executive officer of the regional rights body.
“Refugees should never be imprisoned based on their status as refugees. Prime Minister Modi's government should immediately release detained refugees, provide the UN access to them, and protect all survivors of atrocities, "hesaidina statement.
Indian border security forces reportedly forced 31 Rohingyas towards Bangladesh last week. As they were in "no man's land" near Brahmanbaria, Indian authorities subsequently took them in custody.
More than 1,300 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh from India since May last year, according to Bangladesh Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Abul Kalam. However, the actual number is believed to be much higher.
According to Indian government, there are an estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees in India, and about 18,000 of them are registered with the UNHCR. Many of them escaped mass atrocities in Myanmar since 2012.
Earlier this month, Indian authorities reportedly refouled a Rohingya family of five to Myanmar and, in October 2018, forcibly deported seven Rohingya to Rakhine.
Article 3 of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which India is a party, states: "No state party shall expel, return ('refoule') or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he [or she] would be in danger of being subjected to torture."
UN experts have found that conditions are not conducive for Rohingyas to return to Myanmar.
Fortify Rights urged India and Bangladesh to take coordinated action to address root causes in Myanmar and protect refugees seeking safety.
Matthew Smith said, “Safe returns are inextricably linked to legal accountability for perpetrators of mass atrocities in Myanmar. India should join Bangladesh in working with other UN member states to ensure criminal prosecutions for atrocities committed against Rohingya in Myanmar."
Meanwhile, the International Crisis Group in a report yesterday said the Myanmar government should begin a genuine and inclusive dialogue with the Rakhine people, including the state's political actors, regarding the state's future political, economic and social trajectory.
This dialogue should cover the repatriation process, rebuilding Rohingya communities, economic development and power sharing between the central and state govern-
ments, according to the report styled "A New Dimension of Violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State".
It said, "The looming violent escalation will be difficult to reverse - and will complicate efforts to repatriate Rohingya refugees to Myanmar."
Despite the main ethnic Rakhine party's election victory in 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi installed a minority National League for Democracy government in the state while the government imprisoned a popular Rakhine politician on treason charges. These actions fuelled the belief among ethnic Rakhine that politics is failing them, it said.
Rising violence in Rakhine State will deepen the longstanding political crisis there and undermine prospects for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees. It will also impede Myanmar's broader peace process and political transition, the report observed.
The military should exercise restraint, avoiding the violence against civilians that precipitated the flight of Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh, while the Arakan Army should refrain from further aggression targeting either the military or civilians, it added.
As a gesture of good-will, and to kickstart the dialogue, the Crisis Group said the government should consider releasing Aye Maung and other ethnic Rakhine political prisoners.