After five decades of totalitarianism, Myanmar gladdened the world’s heart when it turned over a new leaf by ushering in an elected government in 2011. Three years on, the country is drawing the world’s ire for dragging its feet on the issue of violence against its Muslim minority of Rohingyas, who have been brutally attacked by Buddhists since 2012. Till date, hundreds of Rohingyas have died in the conflict and more than 100,000 have fled to refugee camps. Further discrediting President Thein Sein’s governance are the conclusions by United Nation’s human rights envoy for Myanmar last week, who highlighted the appalling neglect and lack of facilities in the camps during her fact-finding mission.
Though Myanmar is urging international aid groups to return to assist the Rohingyas, the groups — who were forced to leave after Buddhist mobs attacked them — are treating the invitation with caution. This does not bode well for the country, which has had one of the worst human rights records in history till 2011. What Myanmar urgently needs to do is improve the conditions for Rohingyas in refugee camps and alongside that, actively pursue ways to end the violence against them and engineer their reintegration into society.
