US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has said the United States are working to significantly increase resettlement of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister had asked for the US to take in 100,000 Rohingya, and similar requests had been made to the UK and Japan’s governments.
The US government will take 62 Rohingyas in the first wave. “300 to 800 Rohingyas are anticipated to be moved to the USA annually.” 24 migrants have already departed for their new location.
“The first group of 24 Rohingyas departed Bangladesh on Thursday (Decemebr 08) as part of the relocation to the USA,” said Mainul Kabir, director general of the Myanmar wing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It must be proven that the Rohingya issue is a human rights issue that affects the entire world, not just Bangladesh and Myanmar. The US aims to rehabilitate Rohingyas from Bangladesh in the same way as it has approximately 10,000 Rohingyas from Malaysia, Thailand, and other nations. The US has urged Myanmar’s government to politicize human rights in order to maintain regional stability.
Japan is one of Bangladesh’s and Myanmar’s most reliable and successful development partners. But in the Rohingya crisis, Japan initially chose to keep quiet before deciding to act as a mediator to find a solution. But Bangladesh sought a substantial item from Japan. If Japan has any geopolitical interest in Myanmar, then it should have spoken out strongly against the abuse of human rights and other horrors occurring in Rakhine state. Japan promotes itself as a country that is “value-driven” internationally. Because Myanmar is desperate for investment, Bangladesh should coordinate closely with Japan to find a proactive solution to the dilemma. Bangladesh may also consider extending some of its ideas to FDI in Myanmar.
Japan is contemplating accepting some Rohingya refugees in order to lessen Bangladesh’s burden of hosting nearly one million refugees, the bulk of whom are languishing in cramped camps in the southern border district of Cox’s Bazar after leaving their native Myanmar in 2017.
In an interview with Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) on Wednesday, Japanese Ambassador to Dhaka Ito Naoki stated that Tokyo has received a request from the UN refugee agency to settle Rohingya in Japan.
The declaration was made only a few days after 24 Rohingya refugees travelled to the US from Bangladesh to formally establish themselves in any third country.
The BSS quotes Naomi as adding, “Japan has received your government’s request for third-country resettlement, and UNHCR here is also encouraging us to consider the option.”
After Bangladesh decided on 62 Rohingya for transfer to a third country in the first phase and Washington agreed to take some migrants, 24 Rohingya refugees were flown to the US earlier on Thursday.
This is the official initiative to settle the refugees in any third nation, even though many Rohingya people have already done so through various means and in many countries.
More than 1.2 million Rohingya are currently being housed in Bangladesh; the majority of them escaped a deadly military campaign in Myanmar’s Rakhine State on August 25, 2017.
The military junta in Myanmar is claimed to have refused to cooperate with the Bangladeshi government’s efforts to bring the Rohingya in a calm and dignified manner.
Bangladesh has requested developed nations to bear the burden of the Rohingya with it due to the approaching uncertainties in the repatriation process.
While the uncertainty of repatriation bothers Rohingyas, the initiative to settle us in third countries, particularly in wealthy countries, is welcome news for the Rohingyas and will keep their hope of dignified survival alive.
The secluded Bhasan Char Island in the Bay of Bengal is home to Rohingya refugees, who are in need of $3.7 million in aid from Japan and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
According to the Japan Embassy in Dhaka, the donation will be used to increase access to sexual and reproductive health services, safeguard the safety and dignity of women and girls from gender-based violence, and empower young people.
Japan has been a strong supporter of the Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh since the start of the disaster in August 2017, providing over $175 million to UNFPA and other UN agencies and NGOs in Bangladesh, including through this new financing.
It is “essential to contemplate third-country resettlement” in addition to returning the Rohingya to Myanmar, according to Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki.
“One of the long-term options is the resettlement of refugees in third countries. It is a method for the international community to share the weight of the refugee problem, “The ambassador stated.
As the first nation in Asia, Japan decided in December 2008 to implement a trial program to accept refugees from Myanmar through third-country resettlement.
According to the ambassador, 54 families and 200 individuals, including Rohingya, have been relocated through this program up to this point.
He hoped that, under the direction of UNHCR, they may explore further options for resettling Rohingyas in Japan.
Japan, Bangladesh, and the international community, according to Naoki, would exert every effort to foster conditions that will enable safe, voluntary, honorable, and sustainable repatriation to Myanmar.
The representative of Japan stated that his nation will continue to aggressively offer humanitarian assistance, paying special attention to the needs of the Rohingya people who are experiencing difficult conditions.
Due to their carefully considered geopolitical calculations, important regional powers like China, Russia, and India have played a difficult game and made it clear that they are not interested in taking any action against Myanmar.
Japan, the foremost liberal democracy in Asia and a steadfast ally of Bangladesh on all fronts—strategic, economic, and humanitarian—had mostly been silent on the Rohingya problem. In the past, Japan has given Bangladesh financial support to help the refugees. Now Japan, after USA, would like to resettle some Rohingyas. This initiative can usher the Rohingya crisis solution in terms of ‘Third Country resettlement’. International community can follow the US, Japan’s footprint.
During a visit to the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar in 2019, the former foreign minister of Japan, Taro Kono, reportedly promised that his country would continue to assist and support the Rohingya.
However, Japan didn’t speak out against the Rohingya and even voted against every UNGA and UNHRC resolution that aimed to put pressure on Myanmar to resolve the Rohingya problem.
Japan’s position has drawn criticism from rights groups. Japan’s Cold-Blooded Approach to the Crisis was criticized in a study that was issued in 2019 by Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organization.
Without a long-term solution to the Rohingya issue, the Japanese government and civil society organizations urgently need to understand that their country’s numerous geopolitical, economic, and humanitarian stakes in Bangladesh remain in grave danger. Now, Japan starts to understand the reality which is appreciable.
Japan has been a dependable development partner for Bangladesh ever since it gained its independence from Pakistan in 1971. With a population of 170 million, Bangladesh, one of the economies in the Asia-Pacific with the quickest growth rates, is a sizable market for Japan.
As of 2019, Japan is Bangladesh’s fourth-largest source of imports and its ninth-largest export market. Japan is boosting its investments in the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt, energy, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), and the communications sector.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, has supported Tokyo’s application to join the UN Security Council as a permanent member as well as its stance on nuclear weapons. As a young democracy and a peace-loving nation, Bangladesh has always sought a peaceful and diplomatic resolution to all local and global conflicts.
Bangladesh nonetheless strives to keep friendly ties with Myanmar in the spirit of its guiding foreign policy, “Friendship to all, enmity towards none,” which also involves finding a workable solution to the Rohingya problem, despite some pushback.
By addressing the current Rohingya crisis, Japan can act as a “Gap Bridger” in this situation, fostering cooperation in the areas of preferential trade agreements, the blue economy, energy production, maritime trade, and regional connectivity.
While China was permitted to use the ports of Kyaukphyu, Hambantota, Gwadar, and Ream Naval in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Cambodia on a reciprocal basis, Bangladesh has demonstrated a great lot of confidence in Japan to construct the Matarbari deep-sea port while avoiding geopolitical rivalry.
Japan must be aware that since the Rohingya problem broke out in the center of the Indo-Pacific region, it has the potential to immediately jeopardize the strategic and economic vision of the QUAD countries, which cherishes the rule of law, democracy, human rights, and freedom.
In order to solve important regional concerns like the Rohingya crisis for peace and stability, Japan must join with and exert influence over other important parties in the region.
Asia will benefit from Japan’s continued such initiative on the Rohingya resettlement, which will produce some results. Instead, this will make a footprint approach.
Now, in accordance with its own peace-centric constitution (article-9), Japan must take a firm stand for justice and human rights on all international platforms on matters like the Rohingya crisis. The wise words of Martin Luther King Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” must be kept in mind.
It must be proven that the Rohingya issue is a human rights issue that affects the entire world, not just Bangladesh and Myanmar. The US aims to rehabilitate Rohingyas from Bangladesh in the same way as it has approximately 10,000 Rohingyas from Malaysia, Thailand, and other nations. The US and Japan both must pressure Myanmar’s government to politicize human rights in order to maintain regional stability.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged the UN to take decisive action for the sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas in September of this year. As the international community’s focus increasingly switched to Myanmar’s new international and domestic crises, she expressed grave worry about the repatriation of Rohingyas. The depth of the Rohingya situation will once again become apparent to the world when the United States and Japan’s resettlement program for them starts. To build an atmosphere that is conducive to the sustained repatriation of Rohingyas, the United Nations and international partners must implement specific initiatives.
In order to achieve this, Bangladesh should boost its diplomatic efforts. Bangladesh must put itself and the rest of the world at great danger by hosting a sizable Rohingya minority. The Rohingya issue should be effectively discussed at the diplomatic level with the friendly nations. It must be proven that the Rohingya issue is a human rights issue that affects the entire world, not just Bangladesh and Myanmar.
