(Opinion - Bangkok Post 14/06/2012)
Is the sectarian violence between the Rohingya Muslims and
Buddhists in Rakhine state threatening the nascent democracy in Myanmar? That
is the question the world is asking.
Not Abu, however.
A Rohingya migrant who fled harsh persecution in Myanmar to
live in Thailand 25 years ago, Abu is asking the world a different question.
"I watched with pain Muslims' houses being set on fire
with soldiers standing by doing nothing to stop it. Why? Is this part of the
plan to purge us?" he asked.
When the terrified Rohingya fled the violence to Bangladesh,
they were turned away. "Myanmar does not want us. Bangladesh does not want
us. Our suffering has been exposed to the world. Now what is the world going to
do about it?" he asked.
Dubbed the forgotten people, the Rohingya in Myanmar are
among the world's most persecuted ethnic minorities.
Despised by the Buddhist majority who view them as illegal
outsiders, the dark-skinned Rohingya Muslims struggle in abject poverty.
They are denied citizenship, education, freedom of movement,
employment, and the right to own property in a land which they also consider to
belong to their ancestors.
"We cannot even get married without state
permission," Abu said. Forced labour and rape by security forces are
common, he added.
Despite the arguments on who had triggered the communal
violence, the plight of the Rohingya is real. The racism is real.
And the fact that it is the Muslim Rohingya who must flee
for safety also speak volumes about the situation there.
The longstanding persecution has forced Rohingya men to
migrate in droves as "boat people", risking their lives on the sea to
seek work opportunities outside Myanmar.
For many, it is the beginning of new tragedies.
Thailand serves as a half-way stop to Malaysia, the Rohingya
Muslims' preferred destination. For those who cannot pay for the rest of the
journey, they will be sent to work on rubber plantations by the human
trafficking rackets led by Rohingya mafia with police connections.
The unlucky ones are sold as slaves to fishing trawler
owners. Many die on board and their bodies are thrown into the sea.
That is why Abu still considers himself fortunate. He
belonged to an old wave of Rohingya refugees who quietly trickled into Thailand
two or three decades ago. Thanks to their small number, they managed to live
and work underground by paying protection money to the police and the Rohingya
mafia. Many work as roti vendors on the streets.
Many have Thai wives and children. Like Abu, they remain
stateless and have to live under constant fear of deportation and being torn
apart from their families.
Despite the risks from human trafficking rackets, the
communal violence in Rakhine will lead to an increase in the number of Rohingya
boat people seeking safety on Thai shores. What should Thailand do? What should
Myanmar do? What should the world do?
Unless the world applies pressure on Myanmar to review its
inhumane treatment of the Rohingya, and unless the government cracks down on
human traffickers and corrupt officials, the tragedies of the Rohingya boat
people will never end. The sad possibility is that world is likely to look the
other way, given the vast economic potential which Myanmar holds.
Abu's worst fear is that the Thai government will choose the
easy way out by deporting easy targets such as himself to show that it is doing
something about Rohingya immigrants.
"But where can I go? No countries want us. We're
treated as if we are not human beings, being forced to live underground and in
fear wherever we are.
"I have a family here, but every day I live in fear of
arrest and deportation.
"All I want is to be recognised as a person too, and a
chance to taste a life of freedom.
"I'm getting old, and I'm afraid that I will die
without knowing what it's like to live without fear," he said.
(Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post)
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