sign in sign up
<<
Home , Refugee crisis

NO. 30 JUNE 2020 Introduction

Risking Another Rohingya Crisis in the Andaman Sea Felix Heiduk and Antje Missbach

Kutupalong – which, located near Cox’s Bazar in , is the biggest in the world with an estimated 700,000 inhabitants – has just witnessed its first coronavirus death. The 71-year-old victim was among at least 29 Rohingya in the camp who had recently tested positive for the virus. The death of the refugee has increased concerns that the deadly virus could spread rapidly through refugee camps in Bangladesh, which are home to an estimated 1 million refugees. Observers also fear that the coronavirus outbreak could create panic in the camps and induce more Rohingya to seek refuge in and Malaysia by crossing the Andaman Sea in boats. Malaysia and Indonesia are refusing to allow the passengers of any such boats to disembark over fears that they could be carrying the virus. According to official statements, Malaysia has turned back 22 boats since May 2020. In the second week of June, 269 Rohingya were detained in Malaysia after their vessel had reportedly been intentionally damaged, thus thwarting efforts to push it back to sea. These recent events have exacerbated fears that the current situation could turn into another Andaman Sea refugee crisis.

Between January and May 2015, an esti- the refugees. This offer was made on con- mated 30,000 Rohingya fled and dition that the international community Bangladesh by boat. They were intercepted provided relief for the Rohingya refugees as and pushed back to sea on the orders of well as financial support for processing and the Malaysian, Thai and Indonesian govern- resettling them within one year. ments. Around 8,000 people became stranded at sea, and 370 of them died of disease and starvation. It was only after the situation The Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar had escalated for weeks and under growing as Backdrop international pressure that Indonesia and Malaysia changed their stance. On 20 May To understand the current situation in 2015, the two countries announced that Kutupalong and the other camps in Bang- they would no longer push boats back to ladesh, it is necessary to recall the events sea and would offer temporary shelter to of 2016–17 in in Myanmar.

The Rohingya had faced discrimination and drinking water is often poor, as are the in Myanmar for decades when, hygienic and sanitary conditions, as a result in October 2016 and August 2017, military- of which the camps are vulnerable to out- led campaigns sent nearly 800,000 Rohingya breaks of measles and other infectious dis- fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh. The eases. Many refugees suffer from malnutri- military campaigns were officially labelled tion, others from post-traumatic stress dis- “counter-terrorism operations” in response order. Their dependency on aid stems from to attacks on police stations by the Arakan the fact that they are allowed neither to Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). The United work nor to move freely outside the camps. Nations, however, described the military Human rights organizations have docu- offensive as “” that involved mented widespread abuse of and the , mass and against women and children in the camps. killing of thousands of civilians as well In September 2019, all high-speed mobile as the use of torture and the widespread phone and internet services in the refugee burning down of Rohingya villages. In camps were terminated by order of the November 2019, on behalf of the Organi- Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory sation of Islamic Cooperation, The Gambia Commission. The restrictions on freedom of filed a case at the International Court of movement and the internet shutdown came Justice accusing Myanmar of genocide. on the heels of a failed attempt to repatriate In 2018, under intense international refugees to Myanmar, a large demonstra- pressure, the Myanmar government agreed tion by Rohingya refugees and the murder in principle to the return of the Rohingya of a local politician, allegedly by Rohingya refugees. However, according to a report refugees, in August 2019. by the UN Independent International Fact- Since the emergence of the global corona- Finding Mission on Myanmar, virus pandemic, the situation at the Ro- attempts have so far failed because Myan- hingya refugee camps, most of which are mar has made only minimal preparations located near the city of Cox’s Bazar, has to provide food, shelter and security and worsened. In April 2020, the Bangladeshi thereby facilitate the return of the Rohingya government reduced access for humanitari- to their ancestral villages in Rakhine. Fur- an staff by 80 per cent and restricted those thermore, the report suggested that the services and facilities deemed “critical”. The situation of the approximately 600,000 Ro- measures were introduced in the hope of hingya who stayed in Myanmar remains as avoiding a Covid-19 outbreak at the camps. dire as ever. It details ongoing abuses by However, according to aid organizations the state security forces and the prevailing that are active in the camps, reduced access impunity of those involved in human rights for staff has made the delivery of essential violations, and it concludes that the Rohingya services difficult; food and water shortages who have not left Myanmar are still at “seri- have increased and access to basic hygiene ous risk of genocide” as the Myanmar gov- and has been further reduced. ernment “continues to harbor genocidal Moreover, medical staff are lacking per- intent”. sonal protective equipment, while self-iso- lation and social distancing are simply not possible in the overcrowded camps. Mean- The Worsening Situation at the while, the internet blackout has exacer- Refugee Camps bated the spread of misinformation. Accord- ing to one unsubstantiated rumour, any Even before the outbreak of the coronavirus refugees reporting Covid-19 symptoms epidemic in Bangladesh, the situation in would immediately be taken to an undis- the country’s refugee camps was grim. Refu- closed location. This, in turn, has led to a gees live in makeshift camps in areas prone huge drop in the number of people attend- to floods and cyclones; the quality of the ing medical facilities in the camps. For all

SWP Comment 30 June 2020

2 these reasons, the inhabitants of the camps basis to present any demands to the govern- are increasingly afraid that the virus could ment”. Observers, on the other hand, have spread like wildfire among them and lead argued that the raids might have the oppo- to another “massacre” of Rohingya. site effect of their stated purpose: arresting Rohingya and detaining them in detention centres in squalid, unhygienic conditions Stuck Between a Rock and a might only lead to the faster spread of Hard Place coronavirus infections. In mid-May 2020, two boats carrying an Unwelcome in Bangladesh and unable to estimated 500 Rohingya were sighted near return to Myanmar, hundreds of Rohingya the coast of Aceh, Indonesia. The Indo- have boarded boats in an attempt to reach nesian coastguard said it would not rescue Malaysia, where more than 100,000 Ro- these people and bring them onto land. hingya are already living. However, despite Until today, it is not known for certain occasional displays of hospitality towards what happened to the two boats as all com- the Rohingya, in April 2020 the Malaysian munications via mobile phone with the authorities prevented more than 382 refu- people on board have ceased. Saad Ham- gees aboard two boats from disembarking; madi from Amnesty International’s South instead of bringing the exhausted and Asia office estimates that at least 1,000 dehydrated people on land, they provided Rohingya are currently stranded at sea and only fuel and basic food items. At least one could have been travelling for several weeks boat made it back to Bangladesh, where the or even months without food or water. For intercepted Rohingya, including children, its part, the Indonesian government has were taken by coastguards to Bhasan Char, ignored appeals by a group of religious an uninhabited island off the southern leaders, scholars and activists to rescue the coast of Bangladesh in order to keep them refugees heading to the country by boat. separate from the population of the camps. Both Malaysia and Indonesia frequently According to a young girl who survived argue that because they are not signatories the journey, people had been desperately to the 1951 Refugee Convention, they do thirsty and many had resorted to drinking not have any responsibilities towards refu- seawater. Several people died during the gees. This is, however, not the case. Both voyage and “were thrown into the sea” – countries have signed the nobody knows how many exactly. Convention on the Law of the Sea, while Meanwhile, Rohingya who have lived the International Maritime Organization in Malaysia for years have faced a sharp obliges coastal countries to conduct ad- increase in xenophobic sentiment online equate and effective search and rescue op- and in harassment on the streets. Malaysian erations for those whose life is in danger at citizens and politicians alike have been sea. Moreover, the 2016 Bali Declaration – peddling a narrative implausibly linking a joint commitment reached after the 2015 the spread of the virus in Malaysia to the Andaman Sea crisis by a number of coun- Rohingya communities. Moreover, the tries, including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Malaysian authorities have carried out a Myanmar and – provides for col- number of raids in those communities and laboration on the establishment of disem- arrested hundreds of Rohingya and other barkation options and cooperation on undocumented migrants in what they claim search and rescue efforts. It also encourages was part of the effort to contain the corona- member countries to provide safety and virus. Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin protection to migrants, victims of human underscored in a recent statement that trafficking, refugees and asylum seekers. in Malaysia, the Rohingya are considered But there has been no reaction to appeals “illegal immigrants”, which in his eyes to the two co-chairs of the Bali Process, means that they “have no status, right and namely Indonesia and , to call a

SWP Comment 30 June 2020

3 consultative meeting with the countries Asia that could host Rohingya refugees. In affected by the recent attempts of Rohingya fact, the pandemic has stoked hyper-nation- to flee from Myanmar and Bangladesh. alist attitudes towards migrants and refu- Meanwhile, Australian officials are reported gees and led to the overall securitization of to have said that the Bali Process is a forum the humanitarian crisis response. Pushing for discussing policy and sharing infor- boats with highly vulnerable people back to mation and therefore should not be used to sea is unacceptable. While it might briefly trigger an emergency operational response appeal to anti-migrant sentiments and alle- to a refugee crisis. viate fears of the spread of Covid-19 among local populations, it will seriously under- © Stiftung Wissenschaft mine the human rights framework in und Politik, 2020 A Volatile Situation the region and impede not only maritime All rights reserved rescue efforts but also regional solutions for Described by UN Secretary-General Antonio dealing with any mass influx of refugees. This Comment reflects Guterres as “one of, if not the, most discrimi- The looming crisis in the refugee camps the author’s views. nated people in the world”, the Rohingya in Bangladesh, which could well result in The online version of continue to suffer multiple hardships. more refugee boats in the Andaman Sea, this publication contains Those currently living in Bangladesh are can still be averted. The EU and its member functioning links to other threatened by the recent Covid-19 outbreak states recently allocated €64.8 million SWP texts and other relevant inside the refugee camps, while those who (€16.5 million from the EU, plus €48.3 mil- sources. have remained in Myanmar face serious lion from ) to mitigate the impact SWP Comments are subject risks from the military, which continues of Covid-19 on Rohingya refugees and Bang- to internal peer review, fact- to kill civilians and destroy livelihoods in ladeshi host communities around Cox’s checking and copy-editing. Rakhine state. Meanwhile, the options for Bazar. While a short-term scaling up of aid For further information on seeking safe havens have narrowed. Bang- is sensible, the lessons learned from the our quality control pro- ladesh announced in March 2019 that it 2015 crisis suggest that a swift, comprehen- cedures, please visit the SWP website: https://www.swp- would no longer accept any Rohingya sive and coordinated response by the inter- berlin.org/en/about-swp/ fleeing from Myanmar, and members of the national community is required in order to quality-management-for- ethnic minority living Indonesia and Malay- resettle refugees and thus help Bangladesh swp-publications/ sia are increasingly experiencing discrimi- de-congest camps and improve public nation and rejection. health provision for people in need. More- SWP Although the overall number of Rohingya over, the root causes of the current looming Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik who have managed to escape by boat from crisis need to be addressed. This would req- German Institute for Myanmar and Bangladesh during the past uire the government in Myanmar to enable International and year or so remains significantly smaller the Rohingya to return safely to their homes Security Affairs than back in May 2015, there is still the and the full recognition of them as citizens risk that the current pandemic could serve of the country. However, appeals by former Ludwigkirchplatz 3–4 10719 Berlin as another powerful factor for renewed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the Telephone +49 30 880 07-0 attempts to flee. The situation is volatile at international community and, in particu- Fax +49 30 880 07-100 present and could change quickly for the lar, to ASEAN to create safe havens for the www.swp-berlin.org worse at any time. Rohingya and respect their human rights [email protected] Unlike in previous years, when Indonesia have so far fallen on deaf ears (see SWP and Malaysia offered some basic hospitality Comment 52/2018). As long as the push ISSN 1861-1761 doi: 10.18449/2020C30 and allowed the Rohingya to live among factors driving the Rohingya to seek such themselves in their own communities, the havens remain unchanged, it is unlikely current situation is that the coronavirus that they will stop embarking on dangerous pandemic has diminished regional soli- journeys by sea. darity among those countries in Southeast

Dr Felix Heiduk is Senior Associate in the Asia Division at SWP. Dr Antje Missbach is Senior Research Fellow at the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute in Freiburg.

SWP Comment 30 June 2020

4