Why in news?
China’s is mediating between Bangladesh and Myanmar to resolve the Rohingya crisis.
What are the developments?
- A military operation by Myanmar in Rakhine, resulted in around 600,000 Rohingya fleeing the province to Bangladesh.
- This snowballed into a humanitarian crisis and a war of words between Dhaka and Naypyidaw.
- In this background that China stepped in with its three-point plan.
- Subsequently, an agreement was reached between Myanmar and Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingya refugees.
- If the agreement took effect successfully, China had promised economic assistance for the long-term development of Rakhine.
Why has China been pro-active?
- China has put pressure on Myanmar because a protracted conflict in Rakhine will be decidedly against Beijing’s economic interests.
- Rakhine is an important link in its Belt and Road Initiative and China is building a $7.3 billion deep-water port in the province.
- It has also invested $2.45 billion to build an oil and gas pipeline connecting coastal Rakhine to Yunnan province in Southern China.
What are the challenges?
- While the signing of a repatriation deal suggests some positives, the details of the agreement are very preliminary.
- The agreement had mandated an immediate ceasefire in Rakhine to halt further displacement which hasn’t been declared yet.
- Also, the number of Rohingya who will be sent back or the timeline for repatriation hasn’t been revealed.
- It is also not clear whether the refugees themselves want to go back to a place they had fled in such perilous circumstances.
- There is also no indication thus far, that a resettlement plan is taking shape.
What is the way forward?
- China sees the Rohingya crisis as an economic problem, given that it has been proposing a development centric solution.
- While economic assistance is essential, the real problem is arguably deeply political, and thereby needing a political solution.
- Unless Myanmar takes efforts to recognize Rohingya as full fledged citizens, any deal is doomed to fail.
Source: The Hindu
