New Delhi (Sputnik) — As the international community is slowly but steadily tightening the noose around Myanmar for persecuting its ethnic minority — the Rohingyas, Bangladesh, its immediate neighbor bearing the brunt of the ensuing refugee crisis, has called for regional pressure to make Myanmar act more responsibly.
Myanmar's neighbor Bangladesh, which has called the refugee burden on its soil "untenable", is struggling to repatriate close to a million people back to Myanmar. Out of a million refugees, 600,000 have reportedly crossed the border since August 25 of this year after the fresh bout of violence. In August, Rohingya insurgents attacked Myanmar military security posts and the ensuing heavy counter-offensive forced the inhabitants of Rakhine state to flee to Bangladesh and other neighboring countries.
"Sanctions by the US as a punitive measure may not compel Myanmar to act or stop violence against the Muslim Rohingyas in Rakhine state. It will be fruitless unless China, Russia, and India, as well as ASEAN countries, exert pressure," Maj Gen (Retd) Md Abdur Rashid, Executive Director, Institute of Conflict, Law and Development Studies (ICLDS), Dhaka told Sputnik.
"Sanctions are likely and surely to impact regional countries variedly. It will impact India majorly as India has large investments in Myanmar and is fast becoming a partner in Myanmar's development. Bangladesh is in favor of a peaceful solution while maintaining regional balance but its option are shrinking with every passing day," Abdur Rashid added.
Bangladesh's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Shameem Ahsan, told a UN conference recently that "despite claims to the contrary, violence in Rakhine state has not stopped. "Thousands still enter Bangladesh on a daily basis as Myanmar continues to issue propaganda projecting Rohingyas as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. This blatant denial of the ethnic identity of Rohingyas remains a stumbling block," Ahsan had said.
