Interview with Rohingya Rights Activist Nay San Lwin
Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya rights activist and one of the founders of the “Free Rohingya Coalition”, made important evaluations to the Anadolu Agency (AA) reporter about the difficulties faced by the Rohingya community and the role of international organizations in intervening in these problems.
Lwin stated that approximately 600 thousand Rohingya people were forced to live in Rakhine State after migration, and according to estimates, approximately 10 thousand people had to take shelter in Bangladesh last week. “If the international community fails again to solve this problem, we will lose our homeland,” said Lwin, emphasizing that impunity is the biggest problem. He stated that the Myanmar army has been acting with this impunity since 1978.
Noting that there are cases filed in international courts for the Rohingya community, but it is uncertain how long these cases will last, Lwin pointed out the importance of the intervention of international organizations, a decision to be taken at the United Nations Security Council or an international coalition to be established to help the Rohingya community.
Lwin said, “Every moment the international community does not intervene, the Rohingya community faces the risk of being killed. If there is no intervention, there will be greater incidents of violence, such as the killing of approximately 2,000 to 2,500 people in the last Three to four months. Half of the remaining Rohingya, that is, Buthidaung and “Approximately 300 thousand people in Maungdaw will have to flee to Bangladesh. “If we lose these two towns, we will have nowhere to return,” he emphasized the seriousness of the situation.
The Role of the International Community and Challenges
“The suffering is unimaginable,” Lwin said, explaining how the recent conflicts between the Myanmar Army and the Buddhist Arakan Army (Arakan Army) have made the places where Rohingya Muslims live a threat. He stated that displacements, mass killings, massacres and human rights violations continue due to the Arakan army’s efforts to control the region. He stated that there is no access to basic services such as humanitarian aid and health services.
Reminding that the Myanmar army burned approximately 400 villages in 2017, sexually assaulted hundreds of women and even burned babies to death, Lwin said, “Neither the Myanmar army nor the Arakan army have any intention of improving the conditions of the people. Therefore, our “Only hope is international intervention.”
Lwin emphasized that Bangladesh, where the Rohingyas who left their lands due to the attacks of the Myanmar army took shelter, should convince the international community about the return process. He stated that if Bangladesh cannot achieve this, the Rohingyas will have to stay in Bangladesh until this situation changes.
Current Situation and Future Prospects
Reminding that the Rohingya, who were displaced due to attacks by the Myanmar army in the past, were able to seek asylum in Bangladesh and access humanitarian aid, Lwin said, “The situation is completely different now. People are dying of hunger and struggling with “Various diseases. Just in the past few days, more than 50 people have died due to diseases such as diarrhea.” “People lost their lives,” he said. He stated that problems such as skin diseases and inadequate food supply also arise. “This suffering is unimaginable,” he added.
Lwin stated that the Rohingya genocide started with “Operation Dragon King” in 1978 and a similar situation occurred in 1991-1992, adding that “Rohingyas were forced to take shelter in Bangladesh to save their lives, but some people lost their lives in the process .” “This situation that the Rohingya are being subjected to is a failure of the international community. If the international community really cared about the Rohingya people, they could have stopped this,” he said.
Lwin stated that 600 thousand Rohingyas who continue to live in Myanmar live in two different conditions, approximately 130 thousand of them are kept in camps and the rest struggle in conditions such as open-air prisons. “The conditions of the Rohingya community are even worse than prison,” he said, adding that the search for a solution to this issue continues.
Noting that the new government in Bangladesh gives hope, Lwin said, “Rohingyas cannot use their mobile phones. Young people are targeted, many young people were kidnapped and disappeared by the Arakan army. Their families cannot communicate with them. They have no livelihood opportunities , their houses were burned by the Arakan army.” “No NGO or UN agency is distributing food or other aid. They are entirely dependent on money sent by relatives living in other parts of Myanmar or abroad. When they receive the money, they have to pay a 30 to 35 percent commission to the transfer agent, and when they want to buy any food, they pay a percent to the Rakhine army.” “They have to pay 50 commissions.” he said.
“Food or other supplies are sold at much higher prices than on the normal market. In a normal prison at least there is free food and other things, but here people are struggling to find food, struggling to survive,” Lwin summed up the situation. . He also pointed out that the interim government in Bangladesh should take positive steps regarding the Rohingyas. “It was important that he emphasized the repatriation of the Rohingyas and their rights. I think it will be a new policy for the Rohingyas, but we have to wait and see; it is too early,” he concluded.
