“Could any of this have been prevented?”
Yes! Myanmar could have not waged a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya! And Bangladesh could recognize the refugees’ right to move freely throughout the country instead of confining them to unsafe camps in the remote border region!
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Actually, it could have been prevented if the Rohingya Muslims didn't decide to wage jihad against Buddhists in Myanmar since the 1940s the same way Muslims have been doing to Buddhists all around the world all throughout history.
The UN has the right to intervene. A 2005 UN world summit meeting agreed that all countries have a shared responsibility to prevent and respond to the most serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. if a state was unable or unwilling to do so, the international community was empowered to intervene. Sadly, the UN is restrained by its paymaster, the USA, which wants to keep the Myannar generals sweet as it competes with China for access to Myanmar's natural resources. The USA and China, along with arms supplier Russia, could lean on the generals to provide a semi-autonomous federated state for the Rohingya in north Rakhine. That would bring stability - and save 1m people. See my blogpost, 'Halo goodbye, Suu – the Rohingya crisis' (https://soothfairy.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/halo-goodbye).
I just finished working 6 weeks as a nurse in the middle of the camp and it is obvious that when the rains come substantial numbers of homes will be flooded, the newly bared earth will slide away, and the footpaths I walked to get into and out of camp will become streams that will turn into roaring eroded trenches. Food distribution centers, clinics and essential services will not be reachable for resupply, large segments of the population that aren’t underwater will be stranded, encircled by water.
I observed major road work in progress to attempt to solve some issues. A emergency planning group is attempting to decrease the risks, But the combination of wind and rain in a camp made of plastic tarps on hills... pray for a light monsoon and no cyclones.
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When the persecuted flee to a place dominated by others who are also desperately poor, it's all too easy for us armchair critics to so "somebody" should have foreseen this and made it better.
Just use a little imagination. What if a few million people came to your neighborhood and you were "somebody".
Our country is enabling a guy who doesn't want to help anybody but the rich and the white and the powerful, and those who are sufficiently - I looked it up - obsequious, sycophantic, deferential, subservient, fawning, ingratiating, unctuous, groveling, toadyish, slavish, humble, and/or self-abasing.
It is all too obvious that refugees are in a sticky situation, but we who have more should not blame those who have less for not helping. People who call themselves christians embrace victim blaming, exclusion, violence and the prosperity illusion.
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This reminds me of Haiti, where 95% of their landscape has been deforested resulting in massive floods and mudslides. Here they had a chance to prevent the deforestation but they didn't. The writing's on the wall but they choose not to read. Human stupidity all around, from the Burmese goons to the Bengali authorities who didn't stop this deforestation and provide alternatives. Sad and pathetic.
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birth control
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Seeing the geography of the refugee camp and knowing the virtual certainty of the weather that would soon be coming, I don't see how one can reach any other conclusion than that the government of Bangladesh and the UN have conspired to murder the half million refugees they put there. Welcome to 'the final solution' of the Rohingya problem.
I know there will be no justice for those unfortunate people in this life. I wish there were a god to give them some in the next. I can't wait to hear how the world rationalizes this tragedy. And all the others that will soon be following.
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Just reading about this makes me want to cry. I think when the event happens, it will be very hard to bear. What makes me burn though is that our administration just won't care. Because these people don't look like Norwegians.
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Human over population has serious consequences. Bangladesh can't manage its own population let alone 800,000+ refugees. Exactly what do people think the UN & US should do?
It sounds like stoves would be helpful. Looking at that soil and the proximity of homes to water channels, and thinking on the lack of stabilizing vegetation is a truly terrifying prospect. Nothing can be done to prevent the monsoons and the erosion that are the natural consequence of abusing fragile ecosystems, but it also seems that they need to move some of these people and shelters out of the most vulnerable sites within the camp (above and below slopes and low lying areas).
I agree that it is a tough spot for the US and UN to be in with Bangladesh holding the reins as it were, but this is no excuse. We (the U.S.) are rarely afraid to throw our weight around if we see a benefit either in domestic or geopolitics. To throw in the towel during moments of true crisis, when we actually might have some efficacy is disgraceful. I guess if it is not violent intervention, we want little part of it.
The satellite view on Google maps tells the story of a dramatic increase in these camps. One older view shows forested hillsides, the next strip of imagery over, obviously newer, shows a the dramatic explosion of refugee population. https://goo.gl/Mqbyny
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This is an enormous human tragedy-brought on by Myanmar's racism and unspeakable ethnic cleansing. It seemed the world, other than Bangladesh, has done so little to help these poor people and now we can only watch them suffer
even more. We should all be ashamed.
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This is a tragedy .
Every time a tree is cut down , the planet and humans suffer. We have no life without trees.
But people keep reproducing and companies keep destroying land and forests.
Then we scratch our heads at the ensuing
catastrophic results yet do nothing to stop it.
I wish I had answers . Free birth control for the planet.
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Carla: I agree that people are destroying our planet, and there are too many people.
But birth control is only half the story. The other maybe more important half, is controlling consumption. Living a resource heavy lifestyle hurts the planet no matter how low the birth rate - eating meat/fish every day/every meal; multi-car families; driving gas guzzlers; living in large mansion style houses requiring a/cc and heat; throwaway clothes; upgrading electronics frequently; unsustainable foods (palm oil; meat; fish; etc.) the list goes on and on and on. Societies with very low birth rates are as guilty of this as those with high birth rates.
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Societies w/low birth rates have figured out that the quality of their lives is related to its reproduction rate. Densely populated societies don't seem to have made the connection.
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If you are thinking of birth control after reading this article, you are missing the whole point of this man-made disaster. Maybe the writers assume some sort of lliteracy, ie that readers are familiar with the overall situation. The international community should be able to solve the root causes of this refugee crisis, which is increasing persecution, mass rape and village burning according to a hateful ideology of Buddhist Natiionalist supremacism. Though poor, the Rohingya lives in a lush land of Rakhine State, which has now been taken away, and is being sold to the Chinese and other investors in oil and gas. It's the mafia culture of the authorities in Burma/Myanmar. There cannot be a true democracy or a peaceful future if things continue in this way.
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Clean cookstoves could have, at least partially, delayed the deforestation that will likely wreak havoc on this vulnerable population. Simple, economical investments like these should be a focus of international, humanitarian funding and may have a positive impact in this and other areas.
@cookstoves on Twitter or http://cleancookstoves.org/country-profiles/focus-countries/6-bangladesh... for specific info about their efforts in Bangladesh.
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What an environmental disaster. Loss of forest and end of habitat for endangered elephants and other species. They are also refugees here.
This is over and above the tragic human toll of the Rohingya situation.
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People are trying to find different ways to happiness.
Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York just completed a fundraising campaign addressing precisely this issue - the money will be going towards building houses for the refugees. It's one way to help.
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Houses?
To me, the catastrophe isn't the floods and cyclones to come. The catastrophe is the burgeoning mass of overpopulation moving like the marabunta, stripping the resources away from every area they hit, mowing down forests, polluting the land, eating everything in sight.
Sorry but humans are the real catastrophe. If floods and storms wipe out a lot of people at this refugee camp, my apologies, but that is nature correcting a problem. The most tragic thing is that nature can't wipe out enough people to fix the ongoing disaster of humanity destroying the environment.
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I feel the same way, Dan, when it comes time for me to refill the hummingbird feeder and find it covered with ants. I used to try to get them all brushed off before I rinsed and refilled it. Now I say, what’s the use, and just wash them down the drain. It’s where everything goes eventually anyway.
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That is a shameful and inhumane response to a tragic situation. These men women and children have been victimized and yet you make callous comments about their suffering.
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Heartbreaking is too small a word to describe the terrible suffering of the refugees in this world. Bangladesh is a desperately poor country that cannot support a half million refugees. I don't second guess the efforts of the UN and international aid workers to put a finger in the dike. Things will end badly. There are not enough tears in the world to make up for the abandonment millions of poor refugees in the world.
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Half a million people require a lot of living space. It seems already too late for these poor folks. The denuding of the forest, the sudden 'temporary' encampment on inclines and poor planning/ construction of sewage and or water runoff will all coalesce into a perfect storm of a killer monsoon season.
Many kudos to Bangladesh for allowing these folks some respite from the religious killers in their home country. But I am afraid this will be a disaster of almost biblical proportions in the further displacement and destruction of these destitute people.
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Most of Bangladesh is low-lying and very crowded, even in the absence of refugees. So a large portion of Bangladesh goes under water EVERY YEAR.
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Geographically the terrain features look like unconsolidated mud. If you think the recent landslides in California were bad in absence of a ground cover and much rain; this area in Bangladesh will be a genocidal horror show. Shame on Aung San Suu Kyi for she was the catalyst for the displacement of these refugees. Maybe she will be held accountable in an afterlife.
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So much tragedy and inhumanity here. The Rohingya, led by a woman who was adored by the Western world, ethnically cleanse their country. And the victims, this time Muslims, are ignored by every Muslim country that is awash in money and land and resources to absorb them. Trump couldn't find this place on a map, and he couldn't care less. Neither could most of the world. If you know more about your NCAA basketball picks than you do about the plight of Rohingya, it's time to re-evaluate your priorities in life.
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The Rohingya are a minority ethnic group, not a country. The country they live in is Myanmar not Rohingya.
Myanmar is led by a female Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi,
I agree that she is tolerating the Myanmar's military's ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya minority.
But it is difficult to give your sentiments much credibility when you seem to be quite confused about the subject you are addressing.
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sadly, these stories never end. Why" too many humans too many humans too many humans too many humans - no one is listening.....
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The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 7.6 billion in 2017. It is expected to keep growing, and estimates have put the total population at 8.6 billion by mid-2030, 9.8 billion by mid-2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100.
This is the biggest story on earth.
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People exist for the sake of one another. How can I respond to this?
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There are some 5,000 international aid workers providing assistance in the camps. The Bangladeshi government has been detained and denying entry to some of them claiming their tourist visas do not allow the access to the camps. The government certainly has the right to enforce its laws and ensure security. But the “N”visa they say is required is virtually impossible to get.
Everyone knows the monsoon season will bring huge challenges for health in the camps, and could even bring a catastrophic event. Aid workers will be critical in addressing needs and mitigating suffering and death resulting from these events. I hope the Bangladeshi government, which is under tremendous pressure both internally and externally due to a crisis not of their own making, agrees to meet with aid organizations to resolve these issues.
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People coming in on tourist visas really, really have no business 'helping' in this camp. What exactly are they bringing to the table? Do you think that a stable country with 160 million people lacks people wanting to help out who actually DO have expertise?
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It is sad that the United Nations and IOM did not have the foresight to build a better refugee camp that did not suffer from these acute natural disaster risks only months after it was first erected. I am sure they did the best they could with limited resources and restrictions they had.
However, the real problem is: why is/was the United Nations not stepping in with Peacekeeping forces in order to prevent the Rohingya from being massacred in Myanmar and displaced in the first place? Did half a million people really have to be forced to leave their homes? Could all of this not have been prevented?
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Blue helmets need to be "invited" into a country. The UN does have the authority to place peacekeepers where they are not wanted by the national government. Never again has become Never again until the next time.
I agree regarding peacekeepers. Blocked by China and Russia, the world is ignoring the R2P (Responsibility to Protect) principle that UN member nations have signed on to. Peacekeeping is not a panacea. But some peacekeepers do make a difference and at least safe zones would offer a chance at Repatriation. Other examples? The Kosovars were repatriated, thanks to UN peacekeepers and also a bit of NATO bombing to focus the attention. Putin is still angry about that, but it was the right thing to do to safeguard self-determination. One might ask about the self determination of other groups, including the Palestinians, and yes there are plenty of double standards. But for the Rohingya minority, victimized by Myanmar and (at one step removed) China, their repatriation to their original homes is unlikely without some risks taken. But if these are not taken, who will the Burmese military target next? They have been raping and pillaging a variety of ethnic minorities for decades and are an extremist force in the region. Considering the ripple effect destabilizing the regions, it is no less dangerous to tolerate a terrorist state like Myanmar than a terrorist movement like ISIS.
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I admit I chuckled at the video clip of people digging along the river bank. It caused me to imagine what it must look like to see ants scurrying around carrying bits of sand wearing orange safety vests with reflective tape. Who in the world thought those were necessary? Setting aside our presumptions of what should be, seeing people busily endeavoring to prepare themselves for what they know is to come is actually kind of an uplifting view of reality and the world that's real. I just hope they have enough to eat and someplace safe and dry to get out of the drenching rain and keep warm. Hopefully the safety vests produce a lot of heat when burned or are at least waterproof.
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Hi John,
While I cannot tell if you meant it to be, on the one hand I found your comment to be offensive, how it described you chuckling (I imagine in your armchair), describing the people affected as ants. I do find your comment offensive in that regard, not in a PC way but in a human way. Its amazing how comfort makes us less in touch with poverty. Maybe that is what you meant to say?
On the other hand, I agree with you. It is uplifting to see people working, being productive for themselves and their neighbors, not for some large, corrupt, parasitic organization.
I've experienced the same dual experience when looking at images of poverty, both discomfort with my comfort and also inspiration with how close the people who are suffering are to basic aspects of living. I become inspired by their presence. In some respects, when they are not dying of preventable diseases, from infections, from malnutrition or whatever else (in this case predictable natural events), when their futures are not being circumscribed by the cognitive or physiological effects of their poverty, through lack of adequate nutrition, etc, in some respects they may be living an enlightened existence, no more or less than you or I, and in that sense we are all equal, regardless of our wealth, and in some cases we privileged may even find ourselves envious.
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Actually, George, I was sitting on an old wooden school chair in my shabby little East LA Title I public school classroom waiting for my 10 severely disabled students to arrive. We’re all just God’s creatures no matter what our size. How dare you say that about ants.
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