Rohingya Refugee crisis: Why are Arab nations mum?

On 25th August 2017, a group called Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)  attacked Myanmar security forces killing nearly 80 personnel. The Myanmar government declared ARSA a terrorist organisation and mounted a campaign in Rohingya villages populated by the Muslim minority called Rohingya people. Soon they began to flee…and many of them landed up in India as refugees and now our government is in a fix.

Across the world today Muslims are fleeing their nations. Most of them are seeking refuge in non-Muslim nations, who are expected to accept them on humanitarian grounds. Meanwhile, rich Muslim nations are silent. Where is their humanitarianism towards their own brethren?

Well, once again the sands of time seem to be still and silent in the rich Islamic lands of UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. Even the prosperous South East Asian nations like Malaysia and Indonesia have not done enough. Pakistan is mum.

Now, while Rohingya people are housed in refugee camps, reports say Pakistan’s ISI is reportedly trying to recruit these refugees. No wonder India does not want to risk taking in refugees. Already India has taken Tibetans, Sri Lankan Tamils and there are about 16,000 United Nations certified Rohingya refugees in India.  Apart from this, the government has estimated that there are about 40,000 Rohingya refugees living with illegally acquired citizenship proof documentation like Aadhaar Card. Also most of them are  said to be living in and around Jammu.

Meanwhile, two Rohingyas have appealed in the Indian Supreme Court questioning why they and their people cannot live in India. This reminds us of how four Syrians, who landed on the shores of Japan, are suing the Japanese government for refusing them refugee status.

Now, why don’t these refugees have the same audacity to sue the Middle East nations for not taking them in? No wonder, in Germany some Syrian Muslims have converted to Christianity to make themselves acceptable in the local society.

Oh! But the Saudis did help their Muslim brethren… they gave money… money to build Mosques.  In 2007, Australian government turned down a Saudi request to send funds to the Islamic Society of South Australia to help build a new Mosque. Eight years later, in 2015, Saudi diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks showed that Saudi Arabia had “intense interest in influencing Islamic politics in Australia.”

Even in Russia, the Saudis offered to finance construction of a Mosque and an Islamic cultural centre in Moscow. Immediately, three Russian Orthodox Christian groups wrote an open letter to the then King Abdullah asking him to first lift the ban on construction of Churches in his kingdom before building Mosques in other countries.

Now, why can’t Saudi Arabia and other rich Middle East nations instead of building Mosques build good modern schools? Why don’t they give out scholarships to bright Muslim boys and girls? Why not fund construction of good hospitals in poor Muslim nations?

Also we doubt Saudis will help Rohingya people? After all, Saudi Arabia sells oil to China, which is transported via a 772-kilometer pipe that passes through Myanmar. A pipeline protected by the Myanmar government !  So yes, Arabs seem to love their oil money, brethren not so much.

The only saving grace for the Muslim world is Bangladesh. They have taken in most of the Rohingyas to the point they are unable to anymore. Now, they too fear that terror outfits may sneak in and wreak havoc on both sides of the border.

By the way, the US has given Bangladesh 32 million dollars to help the refugees. India too has already given 1 million dollars and Saudi Arabia gave 15 million dollars, but they also gave about a  billion dollars… not to help refugees but to build 560 Mosques in Bangladesh.

It’s time Muslims across the world do a rethink about their perception about the non-Muslim countries of the world. They must embrace the nations that feed them, that put a roof over their head, give them freedom of choice, provide opportunities for their sons and daughters, give them justice, liberty, self-respect and a passport. One must draw allegiance not from a religion, but from the show of humanitarianism.

More importantly refugees are a burden and also a threat as terror outfits see our kindness as an opportunity to infiltrate. Guess, that is why former British PM James Cameron said a decision about the asylum-seekers should be made from both “the head and the heart.”

Now, as far as Rohingya people are concerned, India must think with its head and not with its heart and become a sentimental fool because we have a heartless neighbour.

e-mail: vikram@starofmysore.com