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Ignoring the concerns of the international community, including the United Nations, national elections are being held in Myanmar on Sunday without the Rohingya. Analysts hope that the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, will win the election again. The influence of the military in the country is also expected to remain the same.
The NLD’s main rival in the elections is the Union, Solidarity and Development Party. The group is believed to be backed by the country’s military. In a recent interview with the media, USDP leader U Thanh The said Myanmar has nothing to regret about the Rohingya.
Myanmar faces trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, for allegedly committing “genocide” against the Rohingya. In January, the ICJ issued an interim order ordering Myanmar to take steps to protect the Rohingya population from genocide. The ICJ case has been described as a planned ‘genocide’ in which more than a million Rohingya have been forced to flee their country through massacres, rape and torture in the name of the ‘eradication campaign’ after to be deprived of all rights, including the right to vote and citizenship in Myanmar. The fact that the situation of the Rohingya has not improved could be considered a violation of the ICJ interim order. In particular, there have been reports that the Rohingya minority have been denied access to the polls despite the order of the ICJ and the vigilance of the international community.
The international community, including Bangladesh, is closely monitoring the Myanmar elections. Diplomatic sources say that the attitude of the new Myanmar government on the Rohingya issue is very important. China is ready to take the initiative to hold a meeting on the repatriation of Rohingya. Neighboring India is also in favor of the sustainable repatriation of the Rohingya.
A large part of the international community is in favor of increasing pressure on Myanmar to resolve the Rohingya crisis. The United States has lobbied Myanmar over the Rohingya issue. Diplomatic sources say that pressure on Myanmar’s new government will increase after the elections.
Questions have already been raised about how free, fair and participatory today’s elections will be in Myanmar. Elections have been canceled in many minority-inhabited areas due to fear of fighting. Myanmar’s 2015 elections, despite their flaws, were considered by the international community as the first post-military elections. This time the elections are expected to have more flaws than in 2015.
Minorities, including the Rohingya, have been excluded from the voting process before the elections. In other words, in Myanmar society, they have no participation in the government formation process. There was also incitement against minorities in the electoral campaign. Political leaders and activists have been detained only if they criticize the government or authorities.
An organization called the ‘Burma Campaign UK’ complained on Saturday that Aung San Suu Kyi’s government had arrested and jailed 229 politicians before the elections. There are currently 574 political prisoners awaiting trial in Myanmar prisons. In addition, more than 100,000 Rohingya are held in detention camps in Myanmar. None of them will be able to vote in today’s elections. The group alleges that the Suu Kyi government did not release the politicians before the elections, despite being in power.
In recent years, the Rohingya in Myanmar have been subjected to the most repression under the Suu Kyi government. Suu Kyi did not use her influence as a state councilor to protect the Rohingya from genocide. He later denied the genocide allegations in the ICJ case.
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