As Myanmar and Bangladesh discuss the possible repatriation of over half a million Rohinya refugees, many of the Rohingya population stranded in Bangladesh remain sceptical and afraid, comparing their uncertain status to 'a life of football', Nasir Uddin writes

Uddin, Nasir

LSE Research Online

‘A	life	of	football’:	The	vulnerabilities	of	Rohingyacaught	between	Myanmar	and	BangladeshAs	Myanmar	and	Bangladesh	discuss	the	possible	repatriation	of	over	half	a	million	Rohinya	refugees,many	of	the	Rohingya	population	stranded	in	Bangladesh	remain	sceptical	and	afraid,	comparing	theiruncertain	status	to	‘a	life	of	football‘,	Nasir	Uddin	writes.In	the	last	four	months	of	2017	Myanmar	security	forces	made	an	atrocious	crackdown	in	Rakhinestate,	which	triggered	a	massive	influx	of	Rohingyas	to	Bangladesh.	Now	the	global	community	hassought	immediate	repatriation,	but	Rohingyas	interpret	it	as	a	“football	match”	between	Bangladesh	and	Myanmar.Mr.	Amir	Hossain,	a	recently	arrived	Rohingya	of	59	in	Bangladesh,	explained	to	me	on	October	30th,	2017,“Rohingya’s	is	a	life	of	football.	One	kicks	to	push	in,	and	another	kicks	us	to	push	back”.	Another	refugee,	Mrs.Zulekha	Khatun,	a	newly	arrived	Rohingya	woman	of	51	years	old,	told	me	on	November	21st,	2017	in	Ukhia,	‘We,the	Rohingyas,	lead	a	life	as	if	we	are	footballs.	Everybody	kicks	whenever	[they]	gets	a	chance,	but	nobody	scoresand	thereby	no	result.	We	live	in	nowhere	and	don’t	know	[where	we]	will	go.”Myanmar	states	that	Rohingyas	are	Bengalis,	while	Bangladesh	claims	Rohingyas	are	Bormaya	[residents	of	Burmaor	Myanmar	as	it	is	now	known].	“It	seems	we	are	like	a	rolling	football	moving	from	one	place	to	another	determinednot	by	us,	but	others.”	This	statement	is	more	than	one	individual’s	state	of	mind,	and	manifests	the	gravevulnerability	and	deep	uncertainties	of	Rohingya	lives	in	both	Bangladesh	and	Myanmar.	During	the	last	fourdecades,	the	Rohingya	people,	who	are	often	identified	as	‘the	most	persecuted	ethnic	minorities	in	the	world’,	haveundergone	a	series	of	atrocities,	systematic	killing,	random	burning	of	houses	and	properties,	uncountable	raping	ofgirls/women,	and	forced	displacement	perpetrated	by	Myanmar	security	forces	as	part	of	the	state’s	policy	started	in1978,	which	made	them	think	of	themselves	as	‘football’;	a	metaphor	of	vulnerability.	In	2017,	the	degree	of	atrocitieswas	so	extreme	that	the	UN	Human	Rights	Council	termed	it	as	“a	textbook	example	of	ethnic	cleansing”.The	rhetoric	of	Mr.	Hossain’s	statement	reveals	the	hidden	transcript	of	Rohingyas’	interpretation	of	the	repatriationdialogue	between	Bangladesh	and	Myanmar.	On	2nd	October	2017,	the	Union	Minister	for	the	Office	of	the	StateCounsellor	of	Myanmar,	Mr.	U	Kyaw	Tint	Swe	visited	Bangladesh	and	willingly	offered	Mr.	Abdul	Hassan	MahmoodAli,	the	Minister	of	Foreign	Affairs	of	Bangladesh,	to	bring	the	‘Myanmar’s	residents’	back.	Following	three	exchangesof	meeting,	Bangladesh	and	Myanmar	reached	an	agreement,	signed	a	deal	and	formed	a	‘joint	working	groups’	toexpedite	repatriation	process	while	killing	was	still	going	on	in	Rakhine.In	1978	the	Rohingya	first	fled	persecution	in	Myanmar	and	the	first	influx	of	refugees	was	approximately	200,000.Bangladesh	initially	sheltered	them	and	under	a	bilateral	agreement	with	Burma	[it	became	Myanmar	in	1989],almost	all	were	repatriated.	The	second	big	influx,	about	250,000,	took	place	in	1991	and	again	under	anotherbilateral	agreement,	236,000	Rohingya	were	repatriated.	But,	many	returnee	Rohingya	of	the	first	and	second	phasecame	back	to	Bangladesh	in	different	‘illegal	ways’	since	the	situation	remained	unchanged	there.	Then	around120,000	in	2012	and	87,000	Rohingyas	in	2016	fled	to	Bangladesh	to	escape	deadly	violence,	but	none	wereofficially	repatriated.	Particularly,	following	the	adoption	of	the	Myanmar	Citizenship	Law	in	1982,	when	thecitizenship	of	Rohingya	was	taken	away,	their	movement	was	strictly	restricted,	their	education,	freedom	ofmovement,	liberty	of	making	choices,	and	even	the	functions	of	social	institutions	were	imposed	strong	restriction	bythe	Myanmar	state	authority.	It	is	hardly	surprising	then,	that	such	experiences	and	the	restriction	of	movement	haveled	Mr	Hossain	and	Mrs	Khatun	to	use	the	football	analogy	to	describe	the	Rohingya’s	extreme	of	state	ofvulnerability.South Asia @ LSE: ‘A life of football’: The vulnerabilities of Rohingya caught between Myanmar and Bangladesh Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-01-09Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/01/09/a-life-of-football-the-vulnerabilities-of-rohingya-caught-between-myanmar-and-bangladesh/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/A	group	of	displaced	Rohingya	refugees	gather.	Image	credit:	Tasnim	news	agency,	CC	BY	4.0.Bangladesh	seems	to	put	belief	in	the	‘deal’	whilst	the	majority	of	Rohingya	do	not	due	to	their	previous	experiences.Their	scepticism	came	true	in	a	few	days	when	many	credible	media	outlets	published	news	of	forces	destroyingRohingyas’	homes	and	settlements	in	Rakhine	state	even	after	the	formation	of	‘joint	working	group’.	Thesecontrasted	pictures	reveal	that	Myanmar’s	‘deal’	is	a	clear	political	and	diplomatic	trick	to	divert	global	attentions	andreduce	the	mounting	international	pressures.	It	seems	an	eyewash	to	lessen	escalating	criticism	for	committing	anunprecedented	‘violence’	perpetrated	by	Myanmar	security	forces,	ethnic	extremists	and	Buddhist	fundamentalist	inRakhine.	What	Myanmar	is	doing	with	Bangladesh	in	the	name	of	bilateral	diplomacy	is	a	mockery	to	keep	aside	thepossibility	of	multilateral	engagement,	and	the	intervention	of	the	United	Nations	in	the	process	of	meaningful	andeffective	repatriation.During	the	last	four	months,	about	646,000	Rohingyas	fled	to	Bangladesh	and	the	majority	of	them	are	women,children	and	old	people	because	many	Rohingya	youths	are	said	to	have	been	killed.	According	to	manyinternational	rights	forums’	reports,	and	the	statements	of	newly	arrived	Rohingyas,	more	than	10,000	Rohingyaswere	killed,	354	Rohingya	villages	were	completely	burnt	down,	and	hundreds	of	Rohingya	girls	and	women	wereraped.	Though	the	UNHRC	termed	it	as	‘a	textbook	example	of	ethnic	cleansing’,	many	others	(Penny	Green,Thomas	MacManus	&	Alicia	de	la	Cour	Venning,	Azeem	Ibrahim,	and	Maung	Zarni,	Ashley	Starr	Kinseth	etc.)	calledit	clear	‘genocide’.	Due	to	this	ongoing	genocide	in	Rakhine	state,	Aung	San	Suu	Ki,	the	de-facto	chief	of	the	state,has	also	been	strongly	criticised	across	the	world	for	committing	‘genocide’	and	‘the	crime	against	humanity’	as	sheimplicitly	supported	this	deadly	violence.In	protest	of	this	massive	killing,	torture,	and	violation	of	human	rights,	the	international	community	(the	UnitedNations,	European	Union,	Organization	of	Islamic	Conference,	etc.)	and	international	rights	bodies	(like	the	AmnestyInternational,	and	Human	Rights	Watch	etc.)	condemned	Myanmar	and	asked	it	to	stop	their	persecution	of	theRohingyas,	but	Myanmar	paid	no	heed.	The	atrocities	are	still	being	committed,	though	the	trend	is	a	bit	lower	thanthe	same	at	the	beginning.	The	influx	has	not	been	stopped	yet,	despite	huge	criticism	from	every	corner	across	theworld	except	Russia,	China,	India	and	Japan.	There	are	a	lot	of	geo-politics,	global	political	economy,	regionalinterests	in	the	various	forms	of	economic	and	political	forums,	and	the	competing	economic	supremacy	in	the	globalarenas	for	fixing	their	position	up	on	Rohingya	issues,	but	the	lives	of	the	Rohingyas	are	in	the	state	of	‘do	or	die’situation.	Indeed,	many	states	and	leaders	in	the	global	arena	are	still	thinking	of	their	own	political	and	economicinterests	whilst	people	are	being	killed	inhumanly	and	are	driven	from	the	country	during	this	relentless	persecution.Bangladesh	has	thus	far	given	shelter	to	the	newly	arrived	Rohingyas	in	Ukhia	and	Teknaf,	SoutheasternBangladesh,	where	500,000	Rohingyas	have	already	been	living	for	a	couple	of	decades.	Combining	the	oldrefugees	and	the	new	arrivals,	more	than	one	million	Rohingyas	now	suffer	from	inadequate	nutrition,	minimumhealth	care,	sanitation,	drinking	water,	and	a	minimum	space	of	living,	which	have	created	the	biggest	refugee	crisisin	recent	history.South Asia @ LSE: ‘A life of football’: The vulnerabilities of Rohingya caught between Myanmar and Bangladesh Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-01-09Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/01/09/a-life-of-football-the-vulnerabilities-of-rohingya-caught-between-myanmar-and-bangladesh/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/Whilst	Bangladesh	still	expects	that	Myanmar	will	finally	bring	their	‘residents’	back,	the	majority	of	Rohingyas	do	nottrust	Myanmar.	They	believe	they	will	be	brought	back	for	killing	–	not	for	living.	Bangladesh	is	also	not	prepared	tohost	Rohingyas	for	long	and	hence	is	trying	to	bring	them	back	at	any	cost.	If	this	is	the	case,	what	is	the	finaldestination	of	the	Rohingyas?	Who	will	finally	take	on	this	responsibility?	Noone	knows	the	answer.This	article	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	the	position	of	the	South	Asia	@	LSE	blog,	nor	of	the	LondonSchool	of	Economics.	Please	read	our	comments	policy	before	posting.About	the	AuthorNasir	Uddin	is	a	Cultural	Anthropologist	based	in	Bangladesh	and	a	Professor	of	Anthropology	at	theUniversity	of	Bangladesh.	He	can	be	reached	at	nasir.anthro@cu.ac.bdSouth Asia @ LSE: ‘A life of football’: The vulnerabilities of Rohingya caught between Myanmar and Bangladesh Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-01-09Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/01/09/a-life-of-football-the-vulnerabilities-of-rohingya-caught-between-myanmar-and-bangladesh/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/

'A life of football': the vulnerabilities of Rohingya caught between Myanmar and Bangladesh

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'A life of football': the vulnerabilities of Rohingya caught between Myanmar and Bangladesh

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