Myanmar Spring Chronicle – December 28 Scenes
MoeMaKa, December 29 2022
The Rohingya refugees, which has become a regional problem, and the Myanmar issue
The transnational refugee crisis, which arose as a result of the Rohingya crisis in 2017, is becoming a regional issue. In fact, the civil rights issue facing the Rohingya ethnic group did not start in 2017. From 2008 to 2009, they went to Malaysia by boat across the Bay of Bengal from Thailand. However, the ethnic conflict in Rakhine State in 2012, ARSA attacks and military crackdowns in 2016–2017, and killings of civilians, have led to the involuntary displacement of civilians to refugee camps, further exacerbating the problem of migrant refugees across the sea. Hundreds of thousands of refugees are risking their lives crossing the sea to reach Malaysia and Indonesia, with hundreds dying in the process.
The 2017 massacre of the Rohingya ethnic people became infamous internationally, and it was a well-known incident that led to the prosecution of war crimes or genocide at an international tribunal. Due to the 2017 Genocide, the condition of the refugee camps, the lack of hope for the future and the lack of opportunity to survive as a human being motivate them to risk their lives and travel across the sea.
This problem is not only the problem of Myanmar or Bangladesh, which have received nearly a million refugees, but it has also caused refugees to arrive in the region and has become a regional refugee problem.
In Myanmar, as there is also a military conflict, in other words, a civil war resulting from the current political problem, the Rohingya issue is far from being resolved. Until the end of last month, Rakhine State had been fighting violently for 4 months. So solving the Rohingya refugee problem has become the second problem, and the first problem is the problem between the AA and the military council. Domestically, the refugee problem is currently behind the civil war problem, but it is seen as a problem that should be taken care of by the countries in the region and by the international community.
While the Rohingya refugees are trying to reach foreign countries, risking their lives, about 40,000 domestic migrant workers are leaving every month, according to a report released today by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). According to this report, nearly 500,000 people go abroad every year, and most of them go to neighboring countries such as Thailand, Laos, Korea, Japan, some ASEAN countries, and the Middle East countries.
They want to leave for any country where their income is higher than their domestic income while avoiding the effects of domestic war. Such events have never happened before in the history of Myanmar and it can be concluded that the ray of hope for a way out of the Myanmar issue has not been seen until now.