Exchange to Change January 2018 E2C January 2018 web | Page 9

INTERVIEW
Rohingya people.
Knowing about the Holocaust, the
genocides in Rwanda or Cambodia
and how the international community
could have prevented these atrocities
from happening, you would expect
that more would have been done by
now to help the Rohingya people.
Even though some world leaders and
the UN have strongly condemned the
violence against the Rohingya people,
I do not see any real international
action. I am afraid that - once again -
economic and political interests will
prevail over human lives.
You are working for Transparency
International Bangladesh (TIB).
Which role does your organization
play with regards to the Rohingya
refugees?
Juel: In October 2017, Transparency
International Bangladesh (TIB)
conducted a rapid assessment of
the crisis and released a report,
proposing a number of concrete
recommendations to address
governance challenges in managing
the crisis. One of the major
recommendations made to the
government of Bangladesh is to
conduct a needs and risks assessment
of the Rohingya crisis and act upon
it accordingly. As a continuation
of its objectives, TIB has also
been observing the situation and
enlightening concerned authorities
on the risks of corruption and
irregularities. As part of the effort,
TIB has protested against the World
Bank’s interest free (though not
condition free) loan provisions to
Bangladesh to address this crisis.
TIB’s position is against imposing a
debt burden on Bangladesh for the
Rohingya crisis which is not in any way
internal or created by Bangladesh.
A huge international response and
collective action from the international
communities will be required.
How do you think the conflict will
evolve in the future? Which impact
could this situation have in the
future?
Aung: More than 820,000 Rohingya
have already fled Myanmar for
Bangladesh. How much more human
suffering and destruction will come
before the leverage is reached to stop
it? No one should underestimate
the complexity of this crisis and
the vested interests in it. But it is
urgently important to stop violence
and human suffering. Otherwise, it
will amount to a genocidal process. It
is also important to de-escalate the
growing momentum of religion and
ethnic identity-based nationalism in
the country so as to rethink this whole
national identity saga, which is one of
the major underlying root causes in
this crisis.
Juel: Unfortunately, it may take some
time until a sustainable solution is
found. I believe the only solution to
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the crisis is that Bangladesh and
Myanmar reach a consensus and set a
framework of agreement to gradually
bring an end to the crisis. Until the
forcefully displaced Rohingyas are
taken back to Myanmar with the
status of Myanmar citizens, the
Bangladesh government with support
from international communities
should manage the situation in a
responsible manner as well as strive to
come up with a sustainable solution
by means of strengthening its
diplomatic efforts. It is crucial to seek
positive support from China, Russia
and India to come to a solution. They
are not acting at the expected level
and ignoring the heinous human rights
violations and ‘ethnic cleansing’
(termed by the UN) by the Myanmar
Army. Humanity should get first
priority; not the mere economic gains
or narrow political agenda. The UN
should act properly on this grave
concern. Moreover, international
human rights agencies and
development partners of Bangladesh
should extend their support to
Bangladesh to manage the burden
until a sustainable solution to this
crisis is found.
E xchange to change J anuary 2018