After watching for several weeks as refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh drifted in crowded boats in the seas off Southeast Asia, begging for food and water, some dying along the way, the world is, finally, responding. Although they initially pushed away some of the boats, Malaysia and Indonesia are, at least temporarily, taking in some of the 7,000 to 8,000 migrants estimated to be at sea. The U.S. government is offering maritime search and rescue assistance and has agreed to participate in a multinational resettlement effort.
Resettling refugees is a global humanitarian obligation. Many of these countries, including the United States, have taken in refugees from that part of the world over the last several years. Now, unfortunately, some are balking. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott — whose country is considered generous in receiving refugees — has refused to take in those who come by boat, telling reporters: “Nope, nope, nope.”
While Bangladeshis are fleeing poverty, the refugees from Myanmar are Rohingya Muslims trying to escape their country’s shameful, long-standing persecution. A minority in a Buddhist-majority country, they have been subject to sectarian violence and denied rightful citizenship for decades. Most of the 1 million Rohingya live in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, and as many as 140,000 currently are in squalid displaced persons camps. The government, wrongfully, considers them illegal immigrants and won’t even call them Rohingya, referring to them as Bengalis.
The Obama administration restored diplomatic relations with Myanmar in recognition of its move away from military rule. But the administration has yet to budge the government on its treatment of the Rohingya. The U.S. must intensify its calls to reform laws governing them. It’s also past time for Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s icon of peace, now a member of the parliament, to use her moral authority to speak out on the current crisis and denounce her country’s treatment of the Rohingya.
This article was published and distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.