Expert commentary - Rohingya 'deal' between Bangladesh and Myanmar violation of human rights law
23 November 2017
Prof Rosa Freedman, professor of human rights at the University of Reading, said:
“A deal between Bangladesh and Myanmar to return Rohingya, without any guarantees for their protection, is akin to returning Jews to Germany in the early 1940s.
“Even though details of the deal have not emerged, this is a clear violation of international law on refugees and on human rights. The Rohingya have been subjected to state-sponsored ethnic cleansing that may well amount to a genocide, and any deal to return them undermines their fundamental rights.
“The ethnic cleansing is well-documented, and has not been adequately addressed by Myanmar state actors in terms of preventing further abuses and deaths. Bangladesh has refused to provide safe haven to Rohingya over recent decades, and the deal is therefore unsurprising.
“This comes a day after the world congratulated itself for bringing the perpetrators of ethnic cleansing in Srebrenica to justice. Mladic’s conviction means very little if the international community fails to protect another vulnerable minority.”
Professor Freedman has also written an article for the Conversation, available at:
https://theconversation.com/myanmar-and-bangladesh-strike-a-shameful-deal-on-rohingya-refugees-88041