0 Rohingyas in Bangladesh

Thousands of Rohingyas from Burma came to Bangladesh in 1978 and again  in 1991 as refugees. They were refugees because their condition concided with the relevant criteria laid down by the 1951 Convention Relating to the status of Refugees and the 1976 Protocol Relating to the status of Refugees Although Bangladesh is not a signatory to the Convention and the Protocol, Memorandums of Understanding were signed by the UNHCR with both the Government of Bangladesh and Burma and on the basic of these ‘understandings’ UNHCR has taken over the situation concerning these Rohingya refugees.

          In 1978 some 200,000 Rohingyas crossed the border into Bangladesh. At that time the Bangladesh Government claimed that there were as many as 252,000 Rohingya refugees while Burma acknowledged a number of 143,900 who , according to the Burmese authorities, absconded to Bangladesh in order to escape the Nagmin Project. Following the negotiations between the two governments in June-July, 1978, an agreement was reached on the repatriation of the refugees to Burma. The repatriation operation  commenced on 1st August. 1978 and ended on 29th December, 1978 and involved repatriation of total of 187,250 refugees (Abrar, 1995).

          Both the Chittagong region of the southeastern Bangladesh and the neighbouring Arakan region of Burma came in contact with Muslim Arab merchants in the first millennium. Large numbers of inhabitants of both the regions subsequently become Muslims. An Arkansas King occupied the Chittagong region in 951 and named it after him (Alam, 1965).

          In 1430, the Mughai Governor of Bengal, Jalal al-Din Muhammad Shah helped Narmikhila (the deposed king of Arakan) install himself on the throne of Arakan, with the consequent increase of the influence of the Mughals in Arakanese affairs, 25in 1785 the Burman king annexed Arakan into his kingdom and the Muslims of Arakan come to fare bodly under the Burmese kings.

          The incorporation of Arakan with Burma brought the Burmans in direct contact with British India. The Arakanese refugees in Chittagong area organised raids against the Burmese nile and, in pursuit, the Burman army led incursions into the British Indian territory. This led to the first Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26), resulting in the annexation of  Arakan and Tesessarim by the British. British colonial expansion subsequently led to the second (1853) and third (1885) Anglo-Burmese wars, resulting in British control over entire Burma (Abrar, 1995).

          The advance of the Japanese army during the Second world war led to the exodus of tens of thousands of Indian (who had earlier moved into Burma from India) from Burma and especially Muslims from Arakan. Riots flared up between the communities and some 22,000 Rohingyas (i,e. Arakanese Muslims) took refuge adjoining British territory of southern Chittagong. The Arakanese communities were divided in their loyalties, the Rohingyas were loyal to the British,rendering valuable services in work units, reconnaissance and espionage, while their Buddhit counterparts, the Rakhinese, sided with the Japanese.

          Although the British has promised, after the end of the war, to settle the Arakanese Muslim in an autonomous Muslim National Area, this was not subsequently honored,

After the Buddhist dominated Burmaese administration took control over Arakan, the Muslim’s sense of alienation grew and this was translated into armed resistance against the Burmese authorities, further aggravating the relation between the communities.

          Gradually, over the last few decades, the Arakanese Muslims (Rohingyas) came to be distrusted and prosecuted by the ruling powers continued discriminatory steeps escalated the situation, leading to the exodus of 1978 (Abrar, 1995).

          Faced with a growing number of refugees crossing the border in 1978, the Bangladesh Government , on the one hand, began bilateral negotions with burma and, on the other hand, appealed to the international community for international assistance. A major international fund raising campaign was mounted for the assistance to the refugees and  they were keept in 11 camps in the Chittagong region, bordering Arakan. As already indicated these refugees were repatriated by the end of December, 1978. In 1991, Bangladesh witnessed another influx of Rohingya refugees into the bordering region. The figure soon escalated to 250,000.

          Similar to the attempts in 1978, the Bangladesh Government soon began bilateral negotiations with the Myanmar Government regarding repatriation of these new refugees and signed a joint Statement with the state Law and order Restoration Council (SLORC) of Myanmar of April 28, 1992,Later UNHCR was invited bt the Bangladesh Government to render assistance to the refugees, from mid1992. UNHCR’s involvement facilitated the work of international NGOs to complement the work of national NGOs (Razzaq and Haque, 1995).

          Under the Memorandum of 28 April, 1992, Myanmar agreed to the repatriation of those who could establish their bone fide residency prior of their departure for Bangladesh. The initial cordial treatment of the refugees were, however, not sustained neither by the Bangladesh Government nor by the local people who increasingly began to feel the pressure of the presence of such a large number of people in their midst. Bangladesh soon attempted to repatriate refugees, involving use of force in view of the subsequent protests by the UNHCR and other relevant bodies, the repatriation procedure was changed and made more transparent (Razzaq and Haque, 1995).