Two problems that have long plagued our region are now a crisis. Human trafficking and a sudden surge in the flood of boat people from the Myanmar-Bangladesh border region have grabbed headlines and the attention of national leaders. Clearly, these twin problems have festered for too long. It is equally evident that solutions are neither simple nor easy. One shining fact, however, is that Myanmar is at once the largest part of the problem, and the key to a lasting resolution.This is not to say the entire regional problem of boat people and human trafficking is Myanmar's fault. An international conference has been called in Bangkok by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on May 29. It probably will feature plenty of finger-pointing. Some of the blame game will be true and pertinent.
Malaysian policy has served to "pull" Rohingya from Myanmar, while past Thai administrations not only ignored the inhuman trafficking situation, but actually participated in it. International organisations, starting with the United Nations, tip-toed diplomatically when they should have employed the bully pulpit. Bangladesh, another source of the boat people, has failed to act as well. Many will be on the defensive on May 29.
Myanmar, however, will not. No representative of President Thein Sein and his Nay Pyi Taw government will sign in for the Bangkok conference. Once again, Myanmar is not just trying to wave away problems of its own making. Rather, it has gone on the offensive, attacking those who suggest it shares a large part of the blame for putting tens of thousands of boat people at risk. Even worse, Myanmar is claiming it is the victim, and as long as it adopts this position, the 29 May meeting cannot end well.
We have heard this tactic before from Myanmar, most notably in the ongoing battle against illicit drugs. The two issues are comparable in many ways. Myanmar is the source of the factories that make ya ba and heroin, and it is where the Rohingya live. The Myanmar government winks at drug gangs who make and smuggle illegal drugs. It also has stood aside or even acquiesced when violent thugs have attacked, murdered and burnt Rohingya villagers, thus building conditions that make the boat people flee.
The conditions of the Rohingya have long been known outside the country. Myanmar, first of all, considers them to be illegal aliens from Bangladesh. This includes Rohingya who were born in the country five generations ago. All ill-treatment flows from this basic injustice. Rohingya have no rights as citizens, are mocked, and worse, because of their religion and are subject to vicious attacks over virtually any slight. These conditions are why the Rohingya flee. It will be stressed at the May 29 conference that Myanmar alone is not to blame. Countries that provide shelter or refuge strongly influence the decisions of the boat people to risk their lives to go to sea. Thai middlemen have built an illegal, abusive system of "saving" the boat people, by treating them as slaves to be sold to their own relatives.
Thailand and Malaysia now have begun to address the crisis directly.
Some 35 years ago, the region faced a similar problem, with a million people fleeing Indochina.
That crisis ended when Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia took steps to treat their own citizens well.
Myanmar is not responsible for the entire human trafficking problem. It is, however, responsible for prolonging it.