The Rohingya crisis has been turning from bad to worse without any ray of hope for immediate repatriation to Myanmar. The international community has an important role to play in addressing the protracted crisis strategically, diplomatically, and economically. The US and the West are always vocal about the crisis, and better late than never, the US formally declared that there was clear evidence of “genocide” committed against the Rohingya community that is still continuing. On the other hand, China is an important stakeholder in solving the Rohingya crisis due to its close relations with both Bangladesh and Myanmar. So, how far have the two major world powers done their part to resolve the crisis?
After a huge influx of over 700,000 Rohingyas in August 2017, Bangladesh was in a fix about the future of the Rohingya crisis. It was expecting a visible solution from the world community through bilateral talks with Myanmar, a trilateral meeting between Bangladesh, Myanmar, and China, and raising the issue in the multilateral forums. Though efforts were made to put sanctions against Myanmar and hold them accountable, Beijing thwarted attempts by the UN Security Council to adopt resolutions, making the usual platitudes about refraining from “interfering” in other nations’ internal affairs. Given the ongoing ethnic armed conflicts in Myanmar near the Chinese border, the reason for support is understandable.
On Nov. 17, 2017, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi came up with a “three-phase plan” to bring about “a final and fundamental solution” to the crisis while visiting Bangladesh and Myanmar. The “plan” which lacked specifics, called for a pause in hostilities, followed by the return of refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar — despite failing to repatriate a single Rohingya after five and a half years — and, finally, measures to promote long-term economic growth in Rakhine State, where the majority of the Rohingya population resides. On its face, the unusually high-profile intervention is commendable and appears to be consistent with Beijing’s new foreign policy objective of becoming a “leading global power,” coming out of the phase of “biding time, hiding intentions”. Additionally, efforts to return refugees were made twice in 2019. However, China has failed to provide any fruitful solution to the crisis so far.
On the other hand, the US has been supporting Bangladesh bilaterally as well as in the multilateral forums. Recently, the US Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Julieta Valls Noyes, concluded a five-day official tour of Bangladesh from Dec. 3 to 7, 2022. During the visit, Noyes met with government officials, including the RRRC. She holds meetings with officials from different UN agencies, including UNHCR, IOM, UNICEF, UNFPA, AFP, and WHO, and meets with other international organization partners who are working for Rohingyas. She visited Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char. What is the outcome of the US Assistant Secretary’s visit to Bangladesh, and why is it significant?
During the visit, she expressed the USA’s gratitude for Bangladesh’s generosity in hosting Rohingya and other refugees. She also discussed a pilot project for Rohingya resettlement that involved transporting 62 Rohingya to the United States. According to Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, 24 of the 62 Rohingyas who were chosen left Bangladesh for the United States on Dec. 8 as part of a resettlement program run by the US government.
Just one day after Julieta Valls Noyes, the US assistant secretary of state, returned from a five-day trip to Bangladesh, the resettlement process began. Does it make any difference to the protracted crisis? Some may come to the quick conclusion that it won’t make any difference. But the move from the US side is important. It highlights the U.S. commitment to supporting the Rohingya refugee response and impacted host communities.
So far, no Chinese ministers or officials have visited the Rohingya camps or paid heed to the sufferings of the Rohingyas in distress. Simultaneously, they are not concerned about the economic pressure mounting on Bangladesh through the rising funding crisis in the Joint Response Plan (JRP) for the Rohingyas. On the contrary, US Assistant Secretary of State Juliet Valls Noyes said that “the resettlement of Rohingya refugees in the United States is a priority of the Biden administration.” Since 2017, the US has donated more than $1.9 billion in humanitarian aid to the affected populations in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and other countries in the region, including the Rohingya and host communities.
Bangladesh enjoys close ties with China, a significant trading partner that primarily deals in raw commodities and is famous for its cheap products. Bangladesh always tries to balance its diplomatic and trade connections with India, the United States, and China — its primary adversaries. In Bangladesh, there are more than 500 Chinese enterprises that are operating in different positions. Concurrently, China is participating in a number of major infrastructure projects throughout the country, including highways, river tunnels, seaports, and its recently inaugurated megaproject named Padma Bridge, which cost around $3.86 billion to construct.
In the reshaping of geopolitical parallelism, China sees Bangladesh as a strategic partner in South Asia, broadly in the Indo-Pacific region. During the last visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in August 2022, Beijing reiterated its eagerness to deepen ties with Dhaka. However, without playing a firm role in resolving the Rohingya crisis, there will always be a gap in the bilateral relationship. No doubt, China is an important development stakeholder for Bangladesh; hence, silence over the Rohingya issue or a “promise game” won’t help Bangladesh get rid of the problem.
All countries, including China, India, the US, and Bangladesh, should work together instead of forming groups against each other to find a durable solution of the Rohingya crisis for regional security. Whereas China failed to project any visible progress in the Rohingya solution, the United States’ decision to resettle some Rohingyas is a small but significant step forward in the Rohingya crisis.
[Photo by Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons]
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
Amit Thakur is an academic and researcher. He completed his graduation in International Relations from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). His research interests are human security issues, South Asian politics, and economic diplomacy.
