The world is ignoring the Rohingya crisis for several reasons, said an NGO leader in Canada on Friday, citing in particular the alliance of Myanmar’s government with China, India, Israel, and Russia as well as the global climate of Islamophobia.
ECONOMIC INTERESTS
“Both India and China have a strategic economic interest in Myanmar. The Myanmar government recently agreed to the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) agreement, which is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative,” Yuriko Cowper-Smith, a board member at the NGO Canadian Rohingya Development Initiative (CRDI), told Anadolu Agency.
Starting in China’s Yunnan province, Cowper-Smith explained, the economic corridor goes through Mandalay and Yangon, and reaches Myanmar’s coast at the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Rakhine state, the site of a brutal 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya.
“Neither India nor China would want to upset this status quo with any sort of international intervention, and so neither government will broach the Rohingya issue with the Burmese [Myanmar] government, let alone the United Nations,” she added. “Therefore, the UN Security Council avenue is closed as a possibility.” She downplayed any expectations of the US or NATO taking action, saying: “The likelihood of this option seems low, as President Trump is not a fan of the UN system or of transnational justice.”
She added: “Although a Muslim nation, which has a significant Rohingya refugee population, Saudi Arabia also has economic interests in Rakhine state, which lessens the likelihood of them speaking out against the Burmese state.”
Cowper-Smith added that the global climate of Islamophobia, fear of terrorism, as well as the lack of access to Rakhine state by international observers lessens the likelihood of international involvement.