Photo courtesy of UCA News
Rohingyas are an ethnic community from Myanmar’s Rakhine province. They have been facing severe persecution for decades, which continues until today. Myanmar’s government doesn’t accept them as citizens, so they are stateless. Many had to flee their homes and became internally displaced, living in camps in Myanmar while others went to other countries as refugees. Bangladesh hosts about one million Rohingya refugees. Since 2008, Sri Lanka has hosted about 300 Rohingya refugees until the latest arrivals in December last year. Most have received permanent resettlement in other countries and left Sri Lanka so only about 100 remain. Except for a few, these are Rohingya refugees rescued off the seas of Jaffna by the Navy and brought ashore when their boat was in distress in December 2022. All of them are hoping to get permanent resettlement in other countries.
The latest group of Rohingyas to arrive in Sri Lanka was seen off the shores of Mullaitivu on December 19, 2024 and were taken to Trincomalee by sea by the Navy, landing on December 20, 2024. They were presented before the Trincomalee Magistrate and are presently detained by the Department of Immigration and Emigration. From December 20 to December 23, they were kept in a school in Trincomalee during which time local government officials, local social service organizations, local journalists and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) personnel had access and provided humanitarian assistance. Since December 23 they have been detained in a high security Air Force camp in Mullaitivu. Other than health officials, local government officials, local social workers and UNHCR personnel have been denied access. The Human Rights Commission was also denied access in violation of existing domestic laws and practices but they later gained access after writing a letter to the president and summoning the Controller of Immigration and Emigration demanding an explanation.
Government’s position and criticism
One of the first people to visit the Rohingyas when they landed in Trincomalee was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trincomalee district MP Arun Hemachandra. He was quoted as saying the Rohingyas will be treated according to national and international law. However, the Minister of Public Security said on January 3 that they may be deported to Myanmar and that the government had even shared details of the persons with the Myanmar government and was having discussions with them. On January 9, the minister said that according to investigations and intelligence information received as of then, it clearly showed that it was a human trafficking scandal and that they are not refugees.
The minister’s statement led to criticism and questioning by the opposition leader and other opposition MPs. On January 9, the North East Coordinating Committee (NECC) together with civil society groups and residents from North and East held a protest outside the Mullaitivu district secretariat calling on the government not to deport Rohingyas and treat them in line with international law. They had also pointed is better to keep the Rohingyas under the supervision of civilian administration rather than in an Air Force camp. This had led to the main organizer being summoned to Colombo for questioning by the Human Trafficking and Maritime Crimes division of the CID. A protest was also held in Colombo on January 10 against deportation and detention in a military camp.
On January 10, when the case was taken up at Trincomalee Magistrate Court, the police had asked for more time for investigations. Lawyers had requested for access to the people being detained and magistrate had summoned officials from the Air Force and the Immigration to the next hearing scheduled for January 31.
Rohingyas’ testimonies
Journalists and human rights defenders have been denied access to the newly arrived Rohingyas since they were detained in the Air Force camp on December 23. This has resulted in those being detained not having the opportunity to tell their story and the country not having opportunity to know their side of the story.
While the Rohingyas were in Trincomalee, local journalist Sanjeevan Thurainayagam published seven video testimonies on Facebook. Another local journalist, Amadoru Amarajeeva, published three testimonies in articles he wrote for the newspapers.
The testimonies of Rohingayas revealed that they fled their homes out of fear for their lives due to fighting between the Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar military. Civilians faced gunfire and bombings and were being killed. Houses were burnt. They had been in camps for about 12 years. The UN and other agencies who were providing food rations were no longer able to help them. Communication links had been cut off. People had sold their assets including land and gold, collected money to buy a boat and fled. They had to bribe the Myanmar military and armed groups to leave. The journey was very difficult; they had faced storms and six people died along the way. Their aim was not to stay in Sri Lanka permanently; they were ready to go anywhere that UNHCR would send them. They were grateful to Sri Lankans for taking care of them, treating them with respect, being sympathetic and providing food and shelter. The 12 men who were remanded on December 20 and sent to the Air Force camp in Mullaitivu were not traffickers and had come to save their lives just like the others.
The testimonies indicate that they were asylum seekers fleeing well-founded fear of persecution rather than those being trafficked or engaged in illegal migration. Fishermen in Mullaitivu, who themselves had faced similar persecution during the war and were the first to visit and assist the Rohingyas when their boat was still sea, understood them to be people fleeing persecution and seeking protection. They had pleaded with the Navy to bring them ashore and stated that the government should take care of them. Documents in relation to the genocide case filed by Gambia against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice, reports by the UN Human Rights Council’s Fact Finding Mission, UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on Myanmar and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and numerous other international groups have found Rohingya to be stateless and facing serious persecution.
It is important for the government to listen to the stories of the Rohingyas without rushing to popularize the narrative that the Rohingyas who came by boat were illegal migrants or victims of trafficking. The government should also let citizens to listen to these stories by allowing access to journalists and human rights defenders.
From a legal dimension, the government should respect article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that guarantees everyone the right to seek asylum and international customary law principle of non-refoulment prohibiting returning of those having well-founded fear of persecution to their place of origin. They should also provide unimpeded access to UNHCR according to the 2006 agreement between the government and UNHCR and ensure that the procedure outlined in relation to asylum seekers in the 2006 terms of reference between the government and UNHCR is carried out. The government could learn from Mullivaikkal and the Trincomalee people’s sensitivity, kindness and willingness to welcome and help strangers fleeing persecution who have come to their shores.
Testimonies of Rohingyas
“We came here because we were persecuted severely in Myanmar. There is an ongoing civil war between the Arakan Army and military where the civilians are being harmed by bombs and gunfire. As people are being killed one by one, we felt insecure staying there. We decided to buy a boat by selling our land and then fled Myanmar.”
“Clashes are going on between the armed groups, killing many people. That’s why we had to flee our homeland. We became refugees living in camps. It has been 12 years. The UN is no longer coming to help because of the fighting. Not everyone had the chance to flee; only some of us could make it here. We sold our assets to get money to make this journey.”
“Government forces and other parties are slaughtering and killing people so we had to come here. I heard that Sri Lankans are merciful and generous and because of that we came seeking refuge here. We are grateful to them.”
“We came here because we have been facing extreme hardships. We came seeking refuge to save our children. Please try to help us in any way possible. We have been enduring severe oppression. We came here because we cannot protect our children. Please have mercy on us. We are hoping that you will consider our plight.”
“The Muslim communities here are taking good care of us and giving us food and shelter, which is more than enough. They are treating us with respect.”
“We are from Rakhine State. The government burnt down our villages in 2012 and carried out a genocide in 2017. There is fighting going on so nobody can access the place now. The UN agencies stopped providing us with rations in 2023. Because we are refugees relying on UNHCR and as we did not have anywhere else to go, we had to come here. We came to Sri Lanka because we heard that UNHCR is present here. We will agree to go anywhere UNHCR decides to take us to. We did not come to stay here. We came here in groups of families. No one came alone. There are 115 people. I came with my wife, children and parents. As we do not know English, we are unable to talk to anyone. I am requesting UNHCR to find a way to help us. Twelve of the people were taken by the authorities for questioning. They came here to save their lives just like us. They are not traffickers. Their family members are here. They are innocent people and now separated from us. They cannot communicate with us. Please release my brothers.”
Videos published by Sanjeevan Thurainayagam on his Facebook account